FINRA Continuing Education: What Registered Representatives Should Know

Continuing education has always been part of being a FINRA-registered professional, but FINRA has significantly modernized its CE program in recent years. The goal is to make continuing education more frequent, more relevant to an individual’s actual registration and activities, and easier for firms to administer.

Under FINRA Rule 1240, continuing education has two primary components: the Regulatory Element, administered by FINRA, and the Firm Element, administered by each broker-dealer.  

The Regulatory Element Is Annual

One of the biggest changes came with FINRA’s broader CE transformation initiative. Historically, registered persons generally completed the Regulatory Element every three years. Beginning January 1, 2023, FINRA changed that model: registered persons must now complete Regulatory Element training every year, by December 31, for each registration category they hold.  

The content is tailored to registration categories and focuses on regulatory requirements and industry standards. FINRA has also continued developing FinPro and related technology to make CE assignments, notifications, and completion tracking easier for both registered persons and firms. In 2026, for example, FINRA introduced a new dataset that allows firms to retrieve active FinPro tasks, including Regulatory Element and firm-assigned CE tasks, for their registered representatives.  

FINRA has also created additional CE resources and a centralized catalog of training content that firms can use when developing their own Firm Element programs. Use of FINRA’s content is optional, and the broker-dealer remains responsible for determining what training is appropriate.  

What Is the Firm Element?

The Firm Element is the portion of CE for which the broker-dealer has considerably more responsibility. Rather than FINRA simply prescribing the same course to everyone, each firm must conduct an annual needs analysis and develop a written training plan appropriate for its business and registered persons. FINRA describes the Firm Element as focusing on the securities products, services, and strategies offered by the firm, its policies and relevant industry trends.  

FINRA and the Securities Industry/Regulatory Council on Continuing Education publish resources to help firms identify appropriate subjects. The Council’s 2026 Firm Element Focus, for example, specifically recommends that firms consider regulatory developments, FINRA examination and risk-monitoring priorities, SEC rule-making and other developments when establishing their training plans.  

Importantly, Firm Element training does not have to be identical for every registered person. Training can — and often should — differ based on an individual’s activities, responsibilities, registrations and associated risks. Britehorn’s CE program reflects that approach. 

How Britehorn Approaches Firm Element CE

At Britehorn Securities, our Firm Element program is designed around what our registered representatives actually do: M&A advisory and private capital raising for companies and funds, involving only institutional investors and no retail solicitation.

Each year, Britehorn conducts a documented needs and risk assessment. Among other things, we review new and amended SEC and FINRA rules and guidance; regulatory and examination priorities; significant enforcement developments; compliance issues experienced by the firm; changes in our business or the activities and specializations of our registered representatives; and available Firm Element training.  

That assessment helps us determine three things: which Firm Element courses should be assigned and to whom, which issues warrant Firm-wide discussion during our Annual Compliance Meeting, and which matters should be reinforced through our annual written compliance attestations. For an investment-banking-focused firm like Britehorn, relevant training topics may include private placements, M&A, communications and marketing, AML and sanctions, due diligence and red flags, licensing and registration, outside business activities, cybersecurity, electronic communications, institutional investor classifications, and the use of projections or other forward-looking information. 

The result is intended to be more than a year-end box-checking exercise. Britehorn’s CE program is designed to identify the regulatory and compliance issues our representatives are actually likely to encounter — and provide training that helps them recognize and address those issues in practice. 

If you like our approach, learn more about registering with Britehorn Securities by contacting us.