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Ava Torres
Ava Torres

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Automating FINRA BrokerCheck Searches for Compliance Teams

#api #automation #webscraping #data

FINRA's BrokerCheck is the public database for verifying registered brokers and investment advisors in the US. If you're doing KYC, building a compliance workflow, or just trying to verify that the person managing someone's money is actually licensed -- BrokerCheck is the authoritative source.

The annoying part: the BrokerCheck UI is built for one-off lookups. Typing in a name, clicking through, downloading a PDF. Fine for occasional use, completely unusable if you need to verify 50 advisors before a fund closes or run weekly checks on a broker network.

FINRA does have a JSON API at api.brokercheck.finra.org -- it's just undocumented and has some quirks worth knowing about.

What the data looks like

Here's a sample record from an individual broker search:

{
  "brokerName": "Jennifer A. Caldwell",
  "CRDNumber": "4521890",
  "type": "individual",
  "registrationStatus": "ACTIVE",
  "currentEmployer": "Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith",
  "employerCRD": "7691",
  "licenses": ["Series 7", "Series 66"],
  "statesRegistered": ["CA", "NY", "TX"],
  "disclosureCount": 0,
  "yearsInIndustry": 12,
  "examsPassed": ["SIE", "Series 7 Top-Off", "Series 66"]
}
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And for a firm:

{
  "firmName": "Vanguard Marketing Corporation",
  "CRDNumber": "32361",
  "type": "firm",
  "status": "ACTIVE",
  "registeredIn": 52,
  "totalBrokers": 247,
  "disclosureCount": 3
}
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disclosureCount is the field compliance teams care most about. Zero is clean. Anything above that warrants a deeper look at the full BrokerCheck report.

The API quirk you'll hit

FINRA's API returns a minimum of 20 results regardless of what you set as the limit parameter. So if you search for a name and get back 20 results, you don't know if there are 20 matches or if the result was capped. The actor handles pagination and deduplication -- you just get back the full result set.

Also: CRD numbers are the reliable lookup key. Names are fuzzy. If you have CRD numbers (which show up in business cards, ADV filings, etc.), use those.

Running it 

{
  "searchType": "individual",
  "searchQuery": "Jennifer Caldwell",
  "maxResults": 50
}
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Or by CRD directly:

{
  "searchType": "individual",
  "crdNumber": "4521890",
  "maxResults": 1
}
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Firm search works the same way with "searchType": "firm".

Use cases that actually make sense

Compliance teams doing pre-engagement checks on advisors. RIAs verifying their broker-dealer network. Journalists or researchers mapping advisor registration across states. Anyone building a financial advisor directory who needs fresh data instead of stale exports.

One thing it won't replace: the full PDF BrokerCheck report, which has detailed disclosure narratives. The API gives you the structured data -- counts, registration status, licenses. For the actual text of a complaint, you still need to pull the PDF. For most verification workflows though, the structured data is enough to flag who needs a closer look.

Try the actor: FINRA BrokerCheck Search on Apify

Good fit for compliance teams that need regular verification runs without manual lookups.

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