FINRA Launches Innovation Outreach Initiative

The new initiative is an extension of FINRA’s growing focus on fintech. The agency launched a website with resources to help financial professionals understand emerging fintech areas like distributed ledgers and digital advice.

FINRA is also using the website to collect information from advisors on how soon technologies like regtech, artificial intelligence and social media sentiment investing are likely to impact their firms.

FINRA’s new Office of Emerging Regulatory Issues will be responsible for carrying out the initiative. Some of the new team’s specific functions, according to FINRA, include:

• Creating a Fintech Industry Committee to facilitate a continuous discussion on fintech developments and how FINRA’s rules and programs interact with technology innovations
• Conducting regional roundtables to provide a forum for market participants (including FINRA members and nonmembers) to discuss fintech topics
• Developing timely publications on fintech topics, such as the increased adoption of regulatory technology applications and how this may impact the securities industry;  
• Enhancing existing internal processes to effectively communicate with the industry, including staff training  
• Increasing collaboration with other regulators, both domestically and internationally

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