Illinois

How Illinois ranks

A state's raw firm count and its disciplinary clean-record rate measure two different things, and they do not always move together. A jurisdiction can host a large number of broker-dealer firms simply because it is a major financial hub, while a smaller state with far fewer registered firms can post a cleaner disciplinary record in relative terms, or vice versa. Comparing both rankings side by side, rather than looking at either figure in isolation, gives a fuller picture of what is actually happening on the ground in a given state.

By firm count, Illinois is #4 of 56 states and territories. By clean-record rate (Grade A share, among the 33 states with at least 10 registered firms, a floor that keeps a state with only a handful of firms from swinging to an extreme rate on a tiny sample), it ranks #23 of 33. These ranks diverge notably -- a larger firm footprint here does not translate into a proportionally cleaner record. Neither ranking implies wrongdoing on its own; always review an individual firm's own size-normalized grade before drawing a conclusion about it specifically.

Inside Illinois's Broker-Dealer Landscape

Illinois has 200 actively registered broker-dealer firms in FINRA's public register, of which 99 (49.5%) carry a clean Grade-A record with no reportable BrokerCheck disclosures.

The state's aggregate disciplinary footprint totals 1,018 disclosures on BrokerCheck, averaging 5.1 per firm. Grade distribution across Illinois's broker-dealers: 99 graded A, 63 graded B, 18 graded C, 12 graded D, and 8 graded F. That means 49.5% of graded firms hold an A and 10.0% fall into the D or F bands.

Grades reflect our internal model weighing disclosure volume against firm size and scope; they are editorial signals, not FINRA ratings. Disclosure totals on BrokerCheck represent reported events, not proven violations, large multistate firms headquartered in Illinois will naturally carry more disclosures than small single-office firms. This page is informational only and is not financial, legal, or investment advice. Before hiring any Illinois advisor, confirm the firm's current record at FINRA BrokerCheck and review the specific representative's individual CRD report.