Financial Industry Regulatory Authority FINRA

FINRA, in the United States, stands for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. It is a private corporation that acts as an SRO. FINRA is the successor to the NASD.

FINRA is a non-governmental organization that performs financial regulation of member brokerage firms and exchange markets. Even though it is non-governmental it is sometimes mistaken for a government agency. The government's regulatory arm for investments is the SEC.

From FINRA's web site:

FINRA is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. We oversee nearly 4,380 brokerage firms, 162,845 branch offices and 629,640 registered securities representatives. Our chief role is to protect investors by maintaining the fairness of the U.S. capital markets.

FINRA's official website: http://www.finra.org/