The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has released its 2025 Industry Snapshot, which broke down the number of firms and registered representatives across the industry by firm size, branch count, number of individuals, state of registration, and a host of other dimensions. Large firms accounted for the large majority of branches and registered individuals in 2024, underscoring the great degree of concentration in its membership
The annual report provides a high-level overview of FINRA membership, ranging from the number of FINRA-registered individuals to the overall revenues of firms, and from trading activity to how firms market their products and services. It is meant to provide the public with greater transparency into the activities of its members and FINRA’s oversight.
“The FINRA Industry Snapshot provides a comprehensive look into the evolving structure and dynamics of the securities industry and markets,” Jonathan Sokobin, executive vice president, chief economist and head of regulatory economics and market analysis at FINRA, said in a statement unveiling the latest report.
Size and structure of firms
As of the end of 2024, only 5% of FINRA-registered firms qualified as large, defined as those with 500 or more registered representatives. But these 149 firms collectively employed more than 530,000 individuals, or roughly 82% of all FINRA-registered reps.
Small firms, those with 150 or fewer representatives, made up 89% of FINRA membership but accounted for just over 9% of representatives.
When it comes to firm branch location, large firms operated more than 128,000 branches in 2024, representing nearly 87% of all registered locations. Small firms maintained fewer than 9,300 branches nationwide despite comprising the vast majority of member firms.
The number of broker-dealer firms registered with FINRA continued to decline, falling to 3,249 from 3,435 in 2020. The vast majority were small firms in size. And 2,840 of the 3,249 broker-dealers were registered only as broker-dealers with dual registrants (BD/IA) comprising 409 of the 3,249 in 2024.
FINRA said there were 32,090 investment adviser-only firms at the end of last year reporting to another regulator, not FINRA.
FINRA reported 136 new firms registered during the year, while 185 firms either shuttered or otherwise dropped their FINRA-registration status, resulting in a net loss of 49.
Individuals
Out of the 723,731 individuals registered in the securities industry in 2024, 311,469 were broker-dealer only representatives, while 323,039 were dually registered as both brokers and investment adviser representatives, the snapshot shows.
Another 89,223 individuals were registered solely as investment advisers and are overseen by the SEC or state regulators.
Another industry report issued in May from the Investment Adviser Association noted that SEC-registered investment advisors now oversee $144.6 trillion in assets, with 93% of those IA firms employing no more than 100 people.
Location, location
FINRA-registered businesses had their headquarters in just a small group of states. California has 321 firms, Florida has 251, New York has 225, Illinois has 205 and Texas has 196. Interestingly, these five states account for just over one-third of all FINRA-registered broker-dealers by headquarters.
Comment due dates in July
Not in the snapshot report, but of potential interest to FINRA-regulated firms, are these comment due dates in July, with the agency accepting some in a few areas.
- TRACE Reporting Timeframe: FINRA has proposed keeping the currently effective 15-minute timeframe for TRACE. Comments were due to the SEC by July 11.
- The Modern Workplace: Regulatory Notice 25-07 requests comment on how FINRA can further evolve our rules, guidance, and processes to reflect modern business practices and markets; support innovation and new technologies; promote efficiency; and eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens. Comments were due to FINRA by July 14.
- Rule Modernization: Regulatory Notice 25-04 requested comment in connection with a broad review of FINRA’s regulatory requirements applicable to member firms and associated persons. Comments were due to FINRA by June 11, but the agency said it still welcomes feedback.
- Capital Formation: Regulatory Notice 25-06 requested comment on modernizing FINRA rules, guidance, and processes to further facilitate capital formation and reduce unnecessary regulatory costs and burdens impacting the capital raising process. Comments were due to FINRA by June 18, but the agency said it still welcomes feedback.
