The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority released details of its final Board of Governors meeting of 2025, held Dec. 10-11. The meeting included approval of the authority’s 2026 budget and three rule proposals, along with a review of FINRA’s 2025 financial performance.
The rule proposals approved by the Board were as follows:
-Electronic Delivery Default: A proposal to permit member firms to use electronic delivery as the default means of providing information to customers under FINRA rules. The proposal, which will be filed with the SEC, supports modern communication practices and preferences while preserving customers’ ability to choose paper delivery, FINRA said.
-Customer Protection from Financial Exploitation: A proposal that would better equip member firms to protect customers from financial exploitation. The proposal includes amendments to boost the adoption and usefulness of customers’ trusted contacts and allow member firms greater flexibility to extend temporary holds when they reasonably suspect financial exploitation of a senior or vulnerable adult. It would also offer member firms a new optional shorter temporary hold (a “speed bump”) to protect customers of any age from suspected fraud.
-Collective Trust Fund Flexibility: A proposal that will be filed with the SEC that would provide more flexibility for collective trust funds—sometimes referred to as collective investment trusts— to receive initial public offering allocations under FINRA’s new issue rules. The exemption would treat these pooled investment vehicles, which are generally used as investment options in qualified retirement plans, comparably to other types of pooled investments.
FINRA said the three proposals reflected feedback on its rule modernization effort that is part of FINRA Forward, a series of initiatives to improve the authority’s effectiveness and efficiency in pursuing its mission of protecting investors and safeguarding market integrity.
“The Board’s approval of these three rule proposals reflects FINRA’s commitment to modernizing our regulatory framework while strengthening investor protections for an evolving marketplace,” said FINRA Board Chair Scott Curtis. “By enabling electronic delivery as a default option, we’re aligning our rules with how many investors prefer to receive information in the digital age. Our enhanced safeguards against financial exploitation demonstrate our determination to protect vulnerable investors, particularly seniors, from fraud and abuse. And by updating our new issue rules for collective trust funds, we’re ensuring retirement savers have equitable access to investment opportunities.”
Also at the December meeting, the Board received an update on FINRA’s 2026 Regulatory Oversight Report, a key resource for member firms with insights from FINRA’s regulatory operations programs, including findings and best practices.
The Board also received an update on the ongoing external review of FINRA’s enforcement program, as well as the enhancements being made to FINRA’s organizational structure to align with the demands of FINRA’s mission. The updates include ongoing work to operationalize two new groups: Regulatory Operations and Market and Regulatory Services.
In addition, the Board met with Investment Company Institute President and CEO Eric Pan, who joined the meeting to discuss key issues for the asset management industry, including exchange-traded fund share classes of mutual funds.
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