FINRA Expands Use of GenAI

FINRA President and CEO Robert Cook reported that the organization is expanding its use of generative artificial intelligence ("GenAI") to enhance regulatory effectiveness and efficiency.

In a blog post, Mr. Cook said that as part of its FINRA Forward initiative, FINRA is building expertise, infrastructure, and governance around GenAI to strengthen its self-regulatory mission. He noted that FINRA, which has long used AI to monitor trading and detect misconduct, is now enhancing those capabilities through large language models and other GenAI tools. Mr. Cook emphasized that these efforts are guided by an internal AI Governance Committee and rigorous privacy and security reviews. He added that more than 900 employees have been trained on responsible GenAI use to keep human expertise central to regulatory decision-making.

Mr. Cook highlighted several innovations, including FINRA’s internal GenAI chat tool, "FILLIP," which helps employees analyze data, draft documents, and review risks. He noted that FINRA also developed tools to summarize investor complaints, analyze public comments on rule proposals, and evaluate disclosures—collectively generating thousands of hours in efficiency gains. He emphasized that GenAI is designed to augment, not replace, human oversight, and that FINRA maintains a "human-in-the[-]loop" approach across all applications.

Mr. Cook said FINRA continues to engage with member firms to understand their use of GenAI and to share lessons learned. He explained that through risk monitoring, advisory committees, and industry roundtables, FINRA promotes responsible innovation while cautioning firms about the potential misuse of GenAI.