The financial industry is vast, with many types of products, accounts and professionals—and numerous entities responsible for regulation and oversight of those different sectors. For long-term holders building or reviewing an investment thesis, knowing which body oversees what—and which free resources exist—helps separate verifiable facts from assumptions.
Three regulators, three roles
The SEC is an independent federal regulatory agency and serves as the primary regulator for protecting investors in the U.S. It enforces securities laws, sets rules for fair and orderly markets, facilitates capital formation, and oversees securities exchanges, brokerage firms and investment advisers (c03, c04).
The SEC also requires public companies to disclose financial and other information, establishes disclosure requirements for investment products, including mutual funds and ETFs, and reviews registration statements for new securities offerings (c05). You can file a tip or complaint with the SEC about a brokerage account or an advisory account, or if you suspect you've been a target of investment fraud (c06).
FINRA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to investor protection and market integrity (c07). Overseen by the SEC, FINRA regulates member brokerage firms doing business in the U.S.; writes rules; examines for and enforces compliance with FINRA rules and federal securities laws; registers broker-dealer personnel and offers them education and training; and informs the investing public (c08). It also provides surveillance and other regulatory services, trade reporting and other industry utilities, and administers dispute resolution for investors, brokerage firms and their registered employees (c09, c10).
NASAA members are the state and provincial securities regulators across the U.S., Canada and Mexico (c15). These regulators are often your closest resource if you have concerns about an investment or financial professional (c16). They investigate investment fraud in their jurisdictions, issue licenses for certain investment firms and professionals, and register certain securities offerings available to their region's investors (c17).
Free tools worth knowing
- BrokerCheck — research the background of investment professionals, brokerage firms and investment adviser firms (c12).
- Fund Analyzer and FINRA Data — research investment products (c13).
- Investor education — articles, tools and investing quizzes at FINRA's investor site (c14).
- Local regulator contacts — NASAA provides information to contact your local regulator if you have a complaint about an investment account or suspect fraud (c18).
A due-diligence checklist for thesis review
Use this checklist to align your research with the body that actually oversees the activity. It does not prescribe an allocation of effort; the tasks are complementary.
- Identify the entity: Is the product or professional regulated by the SEC, FINRA, or a state regulator? (c03, c08, c15)
- Check professional background via BrokerCheck. (c12)
- Review product disclosures. The SEC sets disclosure requirements for investment products, including mutual funds and ETFs. (c05)
- File a complaint with the appropriate body. (c06, c11, c18)
What the source does not say
The source does not establish that any of these regulators oversee crypto assets or crypto exchanges. It does not provide a timeline, proposed rules, or approval status for any crypto-specific regulation. It does not say how to evaluate a token's price or value, and it offers no investment recommendation. It also does not claim that SEC, FINRA or NASAA resources are sufficient for crypto-specific due diligence; those tools are described in the context of securities and brokerage accounts.
Separating claims from inference
The claims above are drawn from the source. Any implication that these regulators cover crypto is an inference not supported by the source. For a long-term holder, the safe approach is to treat regulatory status as unknown until a specific official source says otherwise.