Pros
Good place to start a career if you want to get into compliance work. Generally a family oriented culture. Good vacation time if you can take it. Work is easy and interesting to an extent. A lot of good people. People care about protecting investors.
Cons
Examiners, analysts, investigations caseloads are way too high to manage to regulate effectively. Management only cares about the age of cases. Management just wants you to close as many cases as possible instead of focusing on the big important investigations. Managers assign good cases to their favorites. Management by spreadsheet. Managers place the blame and buck on peers and subordinates. Finra has been undergoing “change” for years. Not a stable environment. Lots of fear and panic all the way to the top Lots of cronyism Outdated rulebook Consolidations Still too many silos Salaries are not keeping up with inflation. Too many senior directors and directors. Too much middle management. Too much CYA by managers. They put one thing in writing and then say another thing. Competition between managers and directors and their subordinates. Too much competition between teammates. Hostile environment. Performance ratings are based in comparison with peers. Stacked ranking. Not collegial. Very smart and experienced people are in FINRA but they usually will eventually leave. Many have left and more are leaving. Turnover seems to be high and they have a hard time filling positions. Leaving deadweight. Work is not challenging. Favoritism Too much affirmative action.
