FINRA Proposes Expansion of BrokerCheck

FINRA is proposing a major expansion of its BrokerCheck service — to make records of final regulatory actions against brokers permanently available to the public, regardless of whether they continue to be employed in the securities industry. Under current rules, a broker's record generally becomes unavailable to the public two years after he or she leaves the securities industry and is therefore no longer under FINRA's jurisdiction.  BrokerCheck is a free online service through which investors can instantly see the employment, qualifications and disciplinary history of more than 650,000 brokers under FINRA's jurisdiction. FINRA estimates there are more than 15,000 individuals who have left the securities industry after being the subject of a final regulatory action and whose disciplinary history is not currently available on BrokerCheck.

FINRA filed its rule proposal to expand BrokerCheck with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) late last week. The SEC will publish the proposal in the Federal Register and solicit public comment in the near future.

In 2008, individuals used BrokerCheck to conduct 11.6 million reviews of broker or firm records. Investors can access BrokerCheck at www.finra.org/brokercheck or by calling (800) 289-9999.