SEC Approves Amendments to FINRA’s Gifts Rule

Amendments increase the annual gift limit to $300, provide exemptive relief authority, codify existing guidance and clarify that the rule does not apply to gifts to individual retail customers

On February 12, 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.’s (“FINRA”) amendments (the “Amendments”) to FINRA Rule 3220 (Influencing or Rewarding Employees of Others), which is designed to avoid improprieties, such as conflicts of interest, that may arise when a member or associated person makes a gift to an employee of another person, such as an institutional customer, vendor or counterparty with the hope of strengthening the business relationship.

The Amendments increase the gift limit from $100 to $300 per person per year, provide FINRA authority to grant exemptive relief from the rule, address valuation, aggregation, supervision, and recordkeeping requirements, codify certain exceptions, including for personal gifts, bereavement gifts, items of de minimis value, promotional or commemorative items, and donations due to federally declared major disasters. The Amendments also clarify that the rule does not apply to gifts to individual retail customers or to gifts from a member to its own associated persons.

We highlight key aspects of the Amendments, including certain changes to gift valuation, in this Legal Update. FINRA will announce the effective date of the Amendments in a regulatory notice.