Is your advisor's
firm clean?
Disciplinary intelligence on 20,055+ broker-dealer firms, A-F safety grades from FINRA BrokerCheck disclosure history, normalized by firm size. Free. No signup.
- Firms reviewed & graded
- 20,055
- Clean record (Grade A)
- 14,984
- With disclosures
- 5,071
- SEC enforcement
- 2,526
Data from FINRA BrokerCheck + SEC IAPD public records. Not investment advice. Verify at FINRA →
The national picture
Of the 20,055 broker-dealer firms we've reviewed and graded from FINRA BrokerCheck, 75% carry a clean disciplinary record, and the heaviest disclosure loads concentrate in a small tail: just the top 10 firms (0.05% of all firms tracked) account for 13.5% of every disclosure on the site.
- 75%
- firms with a clean record (Grade A)
- 5,071
- firms with a reported disclosure
- 250
- graded F, heaviest for their size
- 13.5%
- of all disclosures held by just the top 10 firms
Grades are size-normalized: a firm is judged against peers of similar branch footprint, so scale alone never earns a failing grade.
Firms by Safety Grade
How 20,055 broker-dealer firms distribute across size-normalized A–F grades. Boxes are sized by number of firms.
Broker-dealer firms by size-normalized FINRA disclosure grade
Scale vs. Disclosure Intensity
The 14 largest broker-dealers by branch-office footprint, plotted against disclosures per office. Size and cleanliness are not the same thing.
Branch-office footprint vs. disclosures per office, largest 14 broker-dealer firms by footprint
Most Disclosures
Firms with the highest reported disciplinary events
| Firm | State | Disclosures | Offices | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citigroup Global Markets Inc. | NY | 1,233 | 2,867 | C |
| UBS Financial Services Inc. | NJ | 926 | 6,346 | C |
| Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC | NY | 552 | 44 | F |
| J.P. Morgan Securities LLC | NY | 547 | 6,951 | B |
| RBC Capital Markets, LLC | NY | 490 | 4,053 | C |
| Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC | MO | 489 | 7,651 | B |
| Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC | NY | 433 | 37 | D |
| Edward Jones | MO | 325 | 18,742 | B |
| Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. | TX | 318 | 1,403 | C |
| UBS Securities LLC | NY | 317 | 39 | D |
Highest Rated Firms
Active firms with zero disclosures and a 10+ branch-office footprint
Browse by State
53 states and territories with registered broker-dealer firms.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does PlainAdvisorCheck rate firms?
Each broker-dealer firm receives a size-normalized A-F safety grade based on its FINRA BrokerCheck disclosure history, the count and severity of regulatory actions, arbitrations, and civil events reported on the firm's record. A firm with no reportable disclosures earns an A regardless of size. Firms that do carry disclosures are ranked by disclosure intensity (weighted disclosure load per branch office) against same-size peers, so large firms are not penalized simply for operating more offices. Grades update when new FINRA data is released.
What is a Form U4 and Form U5?
Form U4 is the Uniform Application for Securities Industry Registration filed by a broker-dealer when registering an individual representative with FINRA, the SEC, and state regulators. Form U5 is the Uniform Termination Notice filed when that representative leaves, it documents the reason for departure, including any allegations of misconduct. Disclosures on either form become part of the public BrokerCheck record and feed into our firm-level disclosure counts.
What does an A-F safety grade actually mean?
An A grade means the firm has no reportable disclosures on its FINRA BrokerCheck record. B and C grades indicate low-to-typical disclosure intensity for a firm of that size; D and F grades mean the firm carries materially more disclosures per branch office than same-size peers. The grade is a relative, size-normalized measure, every firm with an active registration appears, regardless of grade.
How current is the data on PlainAdvisorCheck?
Firm-level disclosure data comes from FINRA BrokerCheck and the SEC IAPD (Investment Adviser Public Disclosure) databases. We refresh our snapshot quarterly. Individual disclosure events that have been reported to FINRA but not yet posted publicly will not appear until FINRA publishes them, which can lag the underlying event by 30 to 90 days. Always cross-check material decisions against BrokerCheck.org directly.
What is the difference between IA and BD registration?
A broker-dealer (BD) buys and sells securities for customers and is regulated by FINRA and the SEC under suitability standards. An investment adviser (IA) provides advice about securities for compensation and is regulated by the SEC or state securities regulators under a fiduciary duty. Many firms are dually registered. PlainAdvisorCheck currently focuses on broker-dealer firm records; many of those firms are also IA-registered, which we note where applicable.
What kinds of disclosures are reported?
FINRA-reportable disclosures include customer complaints (formal grievances about a representative's conduct), arbitration awards and settlements, regulatory actions (sanctions by FINRA, the SEC, or state regulators), criminal matters, civil judgments and liens, terminations after allegations, and certain bankruptcies. Not every disclosure indicates wrongdoing, some are dismissed or resolved without finding fault, but the cumulative pattern across a firm is a meaningful signal of compliance culture.
Investor Protection Guides
Plain-language guides to help you evaluate advisors, understand regulatory records, and protect yourself.
How to Vet a Financial Advisor
A step-by-step background check before you hire.
Red Flags in Advisor Records
Warning signs worth a second look in a disciplinary record.
Reading BrokerCheck Reports
How to interpret a FINRA BrokerCheck report, section by section.
Understanding FINRA Disclosures
What each disclosure category means and how serious it is.
Investment Fraud Warning Signs
The classic red flags of investment fraud, and how to verify.
SEC Enforcement, Explained
How SEC enforcement works and how to read a litigation release.
About this data
How PlainAdvisorCheck works, and why you can trust these grades
What this site is
PlainAdvisorCheck is a free public tool that turns FINRA BrokerCheck disciplinary records and SEC enforcement data into plain-language, size-normalized A-F safety grades for broker-dealer firms. Every grade and disclosure count traces back to the original regulatory filing.
Editorial process
- Source. Query FINRA BrokerCheck for registered broker-dealer firms, branch-office counts, and disclosure events, then cross-reference SEC EDGAR litigation releases for federal enforcement actions.
- Verify. Each disclosure keeps its original FINRA disclosure type and date, and grading weights are published on our methodology page so the calculation is checkable, not a black box.
- Publish. Compile a per-firm profile with disclosure history, branch footprint, and the resulting size-normalized grade, linking back to FINRA BrokerCheck so readers can audit the record against the official source.
Editorial independence & corrections
PlainAdvisorCheck is independent and accepts no payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from any broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, or SEC-regulated firm. Found an error or a stale record? Reach us via the contact page; corrections to the underlying regulatory data should go to FINRA or the SEC directly, since they maintain the official source records. See our methodology for full source attribution, grading weights, and refresh cadence.
Frequently asked
How does PlainAdvisorCheck rate firms?
Each broker-dealer firm receives a size-normalized A-F safety grade based on its FINRA BrokerCheck disclosure history, the count and severity of regulatory actions, arbitrations, and civil events reported on the firm's record. A firm with no reportable disclosures earns an A regardless of size. Firms that do carry disclosures are ranked by disclosure intensity (weighted disclosure load per branch office) against same-size peers, so large firms are not penalized simply for operating more offices. Grades update when new FINRA data is released.
What is a Form U4 and Form U5?
Form U4 is the Uniform Application for Securities Industry Registration filed by a broker-dealer when registering an individual representative with FINRA, the SEC, and state regulators. Form U5 is the Uniform Termination Notice filed when that representative leaves, it documents the reason for departure, including any allegations of misconduct. Disclosures on either form become part of the public BrokerCheck record and feed into our firm-level disclosure counts.
What does an A-F safety grade actually mean?
An A grade means the firm has no reportable disclosures on its FINRA BrokerCheck record. B and C grades indicate low-to-typical disclosure intensity for a firm of that size; D and F grades mean the firm carries materially more disclosures per branch office than same-size peers. The grade is a relative, size-normalized measure, every firm with an active registration appears, regardless of grade.
How current is the data on PlainAdvisorCheck?
Firm-level disclosure data comes from FINRA BrokerCheck and the SEC IAPD (Investment Adviser Public Disclosure) databases. We refresh our snapshot quarterly. Individual disclosure events that have been reported to FINRA but not yet posted publicly will not appear until FINRA publishes them, which can lag the underlying event by 30 to 90 days. Always cross-check material decisions against BrokerCheck.org directly.
What is the difference between IA and BD registration?
A broker-dealer (BD) buys and sells securities for customers and is regulated by FINRA and the SEC under suitability standards. An investment adviser (IA) provides advice about securities for compensation and is regulated by the SEC or state securities regulators under a fiduciary duty. Many firms are dually registered. PlainAdvisorCheck currently focuses on broker-dealer firm records; many of those firms are also IA-registered, which we note where applicable.
What kinds of disclosures are reported?
FINRA-reportable disclosures include customer complaints (formal grievances about a representative's conduct), arbitration awards and settlements, regulatory actions (sanctions by FINRA, the SEC, or state regulators), criminal matters, civil judgments and liens, terminations after allegations, and certain bankruptcies. Not every disclosure indicates wrongdoing, some are dismissed or resolved without finding fault, but the cumulative pattern across a firm is a meaningful signal of compliance culture.