Report From FINRA Board of Governors Meeting – June 2026

Board Approved Four Rule Proposals That Advance FINRA Forward Initiatives

WASHINGTON-FINRA's Board of Governors met on June 3-4 and approved four rule proposals as well as its 2025 Annual Financial Report. The Board also received several briefings, including on the FINRA enforcement program external review and request for comments on arbitration.

The rule proposals approved by the Board reflect feedback from the FINRA Forward rule modernization initiative. FINRA Forward is a series of initiatives to improve FINRA's effectiveness and efficiency in pursuing its mission of investor protection and market integrity. During the meeting, the Board reviewed FINRA's progress since launching FINRA Forward in April last year.

"These rule proposals reflect FINRA's commitment to modernizing its regulatory framework while maintaining robust investor protections. By embracing workplace flexibility through remote inspections, adopting risk-based supervisory approaches, tailoring continuing education requirements and streamlining corporate financing rules, we are reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens and costs. These changes will help members operate more efficiently and focus their resources on managing their businesses while continuing to protect investors," said FINRA Board Chair Scott Curtis, who was reelected as chair at the meeting.

The 2025 Annual Financial Report approved by the Board will be published later this month consistent with FINRA's commitment to financial transparency and informed by FINRA's Financial Guiding Principles.

The briefings received by the Board are part of its oversight of FINRA's management and work. The Board was briefed on the enforcement program's external review ahead of the publication of a report later this month. As part of a review of FINRA's finances, the Board received updates on investments to modernize the technology platforms supporting FINRA's examination and public offering filing programs. The Board was also briefed on FINRA's ethics and compliance program, cybersecurity program and Office of the Ombuds.

During the meeting, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins shared with the Board his perspective on a variety of issues facing the securities industry and the U.S. capital markets.

Rulemaking

The following are the rule proposals approved by the Board, which will be filed with the SEC:

• Remote Inspections: The proposal would make permanent the Remote Inspections Pilot Program before it expires to preserve the ability of member firms to conduct remote inspections of their offices. The proposal is informed by the data collected during the pilot program, incorporates feedback received in response to Regulatory Notice 25-07 and recognizes the evolution of the modern workplace.
• Modernized Supervision and Non-Branch Location Requirements: The proposal would modernize supervisory obligations to reflect how member firms' workplaces operate today. The proposal would extend the presumptive inspection cycle for non-branch locations, simplify the approach for different types of residences and modify the supervisory ineligibility requirement for Residential Supervisory Locations. The proposal incorporates feedback received in response to Regulatory Notice 25-07.
• Continuing Education: The proposal addresses the Continuing Education (CE) workload for individuals who have multiple registrations, helps member firms develop their training programs more efficiently, provides timing flexibility for compliance with CE deadlines and offers a new voluntary pilot for CE delivery to senior leaders. The proposal is in response to Regulatory Notice 25-07.
• Corporate Financing Modernization: The proposal would modernize the treatment of underwriting compensation, simplify compliance for members with conflicts of interest in public offerings and expand the filing exemption for certain private placements. Incorporating feedback received in response to Regulatory Notice 25-06, the amendments would reduce unnecessary costs and burdens on the capital raising process, while maintaining protections for investors and issuers.

Information about FINRA's current priorities, active rule filings and recently approved or immediately effective rule filings are detailed in FINRA's Quarterly Regulatory Policy Agenda.

The Board discussed potential changes to enhance the fairness, efficiency and effectiveness of the arbitration forum in response to the feedback that we received in Regulatory Notice 26-06, as well as potential amendments to FINRA's research rules. The Board also received an update on the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT), including the SEC's concept release seeking public comment for the comprehensive review of CAT.

The Board also appointed new members to FINRA's Advisory Committees, effective June 4.

More information about the Board's operations, including membership and responsibilities of its committees, is available here.

About FINRA

FINRA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to investor protection and market integrity. FINRA regulates one critical part of the securities industry-member brokerage firms doing business in the U.S. FINRA, overseen by the SEC, writes rules, examines for, and enforces compliance with FINRA rules and federal securities laws, registers broker-dealer personnel and offers them education and training, and informs the investing public. In addition, FINRA provides surveillance and other regulatory services for equities and options markets, as well as trade reporting and other industry utilities. FINRA also administers a dispute resolution forum for investors and brokerage firms and their registered employees. For more information, visit https://www.finra.org.