On April 21, 2025, FINRA announced "FINRA Forward," an initiative built on three pillars: modernizing FINRA rules to facilitate innovation and reduce unnecessary burdens, enhancing support for member-firm compliance, and expanding cybersecurity and fraud-prevention activities.
The rule-modernization pillar was operationalized through a series of requests for comment: Regulatory Notice 25-04 (an umbrella review of member and associated-person rules), 25-05 (consolidating the outside-activity Rules 3270 and 3280), 25-06 (capital formation), and 25-07 (the modern workplace, remote work, and branch-office requirements).
Notice 25-04 sought comment on which rules to modernize based on economic impact and technological change, naming capital formation and the modern workplace as priority focus areas.
The initiative has since produced concrete results, including the consolidated outside-activities proposal (new Rule 3290) and the Board's decision to advance making remote inspections permanent.