The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private, not-for-profit organization authorized by Congress to protect America’s investors by making sure that the securities industry operates fairly and honestly. All securities brokers and dealers operating a public securities business in the United States, which number almost 4,000, must be members of FINRA. Member firms, and their approximately 650,000 individual licensed employees and agents, are subject to FINRA’s rules and regulations, compliance examinations, and enforcement powers. FINRA is not a government or quasi-governmental agency. As a self-regulatory organization created by merging the regulatory arms of the National Association of Securities Dealers and the New York Stock Exchange, FINRA performs its regulatory functions subject to the oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).