Updated September 2026

What is FINRA and what does it regulate?

FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) is the self-regulatory organization that oversees broker-dealers in the United States. It writes and enforces rules governing how firms do business, examines member firms for compliance, and brings enforcement actions when they fall short.

For marketing and communications teams, the rule that matters most is Rule 2210, which governs communications with the public. It sets the standards for content, the level of review required, and the filing and record-keeping that follow.

What is FINRA Rule 2210?

FINRA Rule 2210 is the rule that governs how broker-dealers communicate with the public. It sorts every communication into one of three categories, and the category determines what content standards apply and what approval, filing, and record-keeping obligations follow.

What are the three categories of communications under Rule 2210?

• Retail communications. Content distributed or made available to more than 25 retail investors within any 30-day period. This is where most marketing sits: websites, ads, brochures, and most social content.

• Correspondence. Written or electronic communication to 25 or fewer retail investors within any 30-day period.

• Institutional communications. Content distributed only to institutional investors, not retail.

What content standards apply to all three categories?

Regardless of category, every communication must:

• Be fair and balanced, and provide a sound basis for evaluating any product or service

• Avoid being misleading or omitting material information

• Avoid projections of performance, with only narrow exceptions

• Avoid exaggerated or unwarranted claims outright

Do retail communications need to be approved before they go out?

Yes. Retail communications generally require approval by an appropriately qualified reviewer before use. Specific retail communications must also be filed with FINRA, in some cases before first use and in others within a set window afterward, depending on the content and the firm's filing history.

Underneath all of it sits record-keeping. Firms are expected to retain communications, along with the name of the reviewer who approved them and the dates of approval and use, for the required retention period.

Is FINRA changing Rule 2210?

In 2026, FINRA advanced two related proposals that would meaningfully reshape this framework:

• Regulatory Notice 26-14 would replace blanket principal pre-approval for retail communications with a firm-administered, risk-based supervisory framework, eliminate the current static-versus-interactive distinction for social media (treating all of it as retail communications), and extend governance requirements to AI-generated content. Comment period closed September 11, 2026.

• A separate proposal would create an exception allowing projected performance or targeted returns when communications are tailored to a specific audience and include adequate risk disclosures, expanding beyond the current narrow exceptions. Comment period closed July 28, 2026.

Neither proposal is in effect as of September 2026.

How does Rule 2210 fit with the other rules that shape broker-dealer marketing?

If your firm also operates on the adviser side, the SEC Marketing Rule governs that activity in parallel. For the wider context, see the financial services industry page and our guide to fintech marketing compliance.

What are the most common FINRA marketing violations?

The recurring enforcement themes are less about exotic rule breaches than about ordinary content moving faster than review can keep up:

• Unbalanced claims. Content that leads with upside and underweights risk, or reaches for promissory or exaggerated language. Fair and balanced is the standard, and it's the first thing to slip under marketing pressure.

• Performance shown without context. A frequent source of findings in examinations, when performance data lacks the balance or disclosure the rule requires.

• Missing reviewer sign-off. The procedural failure that makes the other two possible, usually because a piece shipped through a channel that sat outside the formal review path.

The last bullet point is the bridge to the real subject: the workflow.

Does Rule 2210 apply to social media?

Yes, and it's where the categories get rigorously tested. A static firm post is one thing. Interactive comments, shared third-party content, and material posted by registered representatives on their own accounts raise questions about what counts as a retail communication, what needs prior approval, and what has to be retained.

Influencer marketing adds another layer. FINRA has said that when a firm arranges, pays for, or is involved in preparing an influencer's content, the firm becomes "entangled" with that content and takes on full regulatory responsibility for it, including fair-and-balanced content standards, paid-promotion disclosure (#ad, #sponsored), and record-keeping. FINRA's 2023 targeted review of finfluencer programs found substantive compliance issues in a large majority of the communications examined, so this isn't a theoretical risk.

The practical problem is surface area. Every channel a firm adds multiplies the volume of communications that need the right review and a retained record, and informal channels are exactly where content tends to escape the workflow. As noted above, FINRA's pending proposal would collapse the static/interactive distinction entirely and treat all social media as retail communications, which would raise the stakes on getting this workflow right.

How can firms scale FINRA communications review as volume grows?

The real test of FINRA compliance is applying Rule 2210 consistently to a rising volume of content while keeping principal review from becoming a bottleneck. It helps to follow a single piece through the workflow that should catch it.

A draft starts life somewhere in marketing. The first thing a working process settles is which category it belongs to, because a retail communication, a piece of correspondence, and an institutional communication carry different obligations, and that classification sets everything that follows.

Before the piece reaches a reviewer, the content standards are applied at the draft stage, where fair and balanced presentation, the right disclosures, and any exaggerated or promissory language can still be corrected cheaply. The reviewer then approves what those standards have already cleared, spending their time on the genuine judgement calls.

As the piece goes out, the record forms alongside it: who approved it, when, and on what basis, retained and retrievable for the period the rules require. The same path has to hold on every channel the firm uses, social included, since the communications that escape the workflow are the ones that surface later as findings.

Haast sits inside that workflow. It's an AI marketing compliance platform that reviews communications against your firm's own reading of Rule 2210, tuned to the risk posture your compliance team has chosen, and built to support the sequence above rather than stand outside it. It checks a draft before use, hands the principal content that has already passed the repeatable checks, keeps watching live and social channels for drift after approval, and writes each step into a retained, examination-ready record as it happens.

What that changes operationally is where the time goes. The exaggerated or unbalanced claim is caught before a reviewer opens the draft, so review hours land on judgement rather than obvious fixes, and performance content missing its required context is flagged at that same stage instead of in an examination. Social posts stay under continuous watch, which closes the channel where communications most often slip past review. Haast carries the repeatable load and keeps the approval trail consistent, while your principals stay responsible for the decisions and the legal calls. Implementation is run by Haast's in-house legal team, who encode your policies and risk posture into the platform.

See how Zurich cut compliance review times by 50% using the same compliance AI platform. If you're weighing up options, read our guide to the best marketing compliance software.

To see how Haast supports FINRA 2210 review and principal-approval workflows, book a product tour today.

Frequently asked questions

What is FINRA Rule 2210?
The rule that governs broker-dealer communications with the public. It sets content standards and sorts communications into retail, correspondence, and institutional categories, each with its own approval and filing obligations.

What is the difference between retail communications and correspondence?
A retail communication reaches more than 25 retail investors in a 30-day period; correspondence reaches 25 or fewer. Retail communications generally require principal approval before use, while correspondence doesn't require pre-use approval.

Do retail communications need to be filed with FINRA?
Some do. Depending on the content and the firm's filing history, certain retail communications must be filed before first use or within a set window afterward.

Does Rule 2210 apply to social media?
Yes. Social content can be a retail communication, and questions of prior approval and record-keeping depend on whether it's static or interactive and who posts it. When a firm arranges or pays for influencer content, FINRA treats the firm as "entangled" with it and holds the firm responsible for its compliance.

What records do firms need to keep for FINRA communications?
Firms are expected to retain the communication itself, the name of the approving principal, and the relevant approval and use dates, for the required retention period.

Is FINRA changing Rule 2210?
FINRA has proposed amendments (Regulatory Notice 26-14, 2026) that would replace blanket principal pre-approval with a risk-based framework and treat all social media as retail communications. As of September 2026, this is proposed, not adopted, and firms should confirm current status before acting on it.

Frequently asked questions

What is FINRA Rule 2210?
The rule that governs broker-dealer communications with the public. It sets content standards and sorts communications into retail, correspondence, and institutional categories, each with its own approval and filing obligations.

What is the difference between retail communications and correspondence?
A retail communication reaches more than 25 retail investors in a 30-day period; correspondence reaches 25 or fewer. Retail communications generally require principal approval before use, while correspondence doesn't require pre-use approval.

Do retail communications need to be filed with FINRA?
Some do. Depending on the content and the firm's filing history, certain retail communications must be filed before first use or within a set window afterward.

Does Rule 2210 apply to social media?
Yes. Social content can be a retail communication, and questions of prior approval and record-keeping depend on whether it's static or interactive and who posts it. When a firm arranges or pays for influencer content, FINRA treats the firm as "entangled" with it and holds the firm responsible for its compliance.

What records do firms need to keep for FINRA communications?
Firms are expected to retain the communication itself, the name of the approving principal, and the relevant approval and use dates, for the required retention period.

Is FINRA changing Rule 2210?
FINRA has proposed amendments (Regulatory Notice 26-14, 2026) that would replace blanket principal pre-approval with a risk-based framework and treat all social media as retail communications. As of September 2026, this is proposed, not adopted, and firms should confirm current status before acting on it.