FINRA BrokerCheck Investment Advisors & Brokers Scraper

Extract regulatory data for investment advisors and brokers from FINRA's official BrokerCheck database. Get verified profiles, employment history, disciplinary status, and contact details for B2B compliance, due diligence, and lead generation.

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✨ Features

• Official FINRA Data: Direct extraction from FINRA.org's authoritative registry
• Multi-Criteria Filtering: By state, registration type, status, and disciplinary history
• Rich Profiles: CRD, names, employers, firm details, registration counts
• Compliance Ready: Disciplinary disclosure flags and regulatory scope indicators
• Scalable: Configurable delays, result limits, and sorting options
• B2B Grade: Production-ready with error handling and structured JSON output

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🚀 Quick Start

1. Input Configuration

{
  "filter_active": true,
  "filter_bar": true,
  "filter_broker": true,
  "filter_brokeria": true,
  "filter_ia": true,
  "filter_prev": true,
  "include_detail": false,
  "include_previous": true,
  "states": ["CA", "NY", "TX"],
  "query": "",
  "max_results": 500,
  "delay_seconds": 1,
  "sort": "score+desc"
}

2. Parameters Explained

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
filter_active	Boolean	true	Include only active registrations
filter_bar	Boolean	true	Include individuals with disciplinary bars/suspensions
filter_broker	Boolean	true	Include Broker-Dealer registrations
filter_brokeria	Boolean	true	Include combined Broker + IA registrations
filter_ia	Boolean	true	Include Investment Advisor-only registrations
filter_prev	Boolean	true	Include individuals with previous (inactive) registrations
include_detail	Boolean	false	Fetch detailed employment & disclosure history (slower, more credits)
include_previous	Boolean	true	Include previous employment history in results
states	Array	[]	Filter by US state codes (e.g., ["CA", "NY"]). Empty = all states
query	String	""	Optional keyword search (name, firm, CRD)
max_results	Number	100	Maximum results to return (1–10,000)
delay_seconds	Number	0.5	Delay between requests in seconds (anti-detection)
sort	String	"score+desc"	Sort results: score+desc, name+asc, crd+asc

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📊 Output Format

Standard Result

{
  "crd": "1170765",
  "name": "JAMES MARSHALL SCHWARZ",
  "first_name": "JAMES",
  "middle_name": "MARSHALL",
  "last_name": "SCHWARZ",
  "other_names": [],
  "profile_url": "https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/1170765",
  "scope": "IA",
  "bc_scope": "InActive",
  "ia_scope": "Active",
  "has_disclosure": false,
  "registration_count": 0,
  "employment_count": 1,
  "industry_start_date": "",
  "current_employer": "CLEAR RETIREMENT ADVICE LLC",
  "current_employments": [
    {
      "firm_id": "292667",
      "firm_name": "CLEAR RETIREMENT ADVICE LLC",
      "city": "SAN MATEO",
      "state": "CA",
      "zip": "94403",
      "ia_only": "Y"
    }
  ]
}

Output Fields Reference

Field	Type	Description
crd	String	FINRA's Central Registration Depository ID (unique identifier)
name	String	Full legal name as registered
first_name	String	First name
middle_name	String	Middle name (if applicable)
last_name	String	Last name
other_names	Array	Any alternate legal names (maiden names, DBA, etc.)
profile_url	String	Direct link to FINRA BrokerCheck profile
scope	String	Primary registration type: Broker, IA, or BrokerIA
bc_scope	String	Broker-Dealer registration status: Active or InActive
ia_scope	String	Investment Advisor registration status: Active or InActive
has_disclosure	Boolean	Whether individual has disclosed disciplinary history
registration_count	Number	Total number of active registrations
employment_count	Number	Total number of employment records
industry_start_date	String	When individual entered the industry (YYYY-MM-DD format)
current_employer	String	Name of current employer/firm
current_employments	Array	List of current employment records (see below)

Employment Record Structure

{
  "firm_id": "292667",
  "firm_name": "CLEAR RETIREMENT ADVICE LLC",
  "city": "SAN MATEO",
  "state": "CA",
  "zip": "94403",
  "ia_only": "Y"
}

Field	Type	Description
firm_id	String	FINRA Firm CRD ID
firm_name	String	Registered firm name
city	String	Firm headquarters city
state	String	US state code
zip	String	Zip code
ia_only	String	Y if firm is Investment Advisor-only; N if Broker-Dealer or combined

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💡 Use Cases

Compliance & Risk Management

Filter for individuals with disciplinary history, verify registration status before partnerships, monitor state-specific regulatory requirements.

{
  "filter_active": true,
  "filter_bar": true,
  "states": ["NY", "CA"],
  "max_results": 5000,
  "delay_seconds": 1
}

Lead Generation

Build qualified prospect lists of active investment advisors in target states.

{
  "filter_active": true,
  "filter_bar": false,
  "filter_ia": true,
  "states": ["TX", "FL", "CA"],
  "max_results": 10000,
  "delay_seconds": 0.5
}

Data Enrichment

Append FINRA registration & employment data to existing financial professional databases.

{
  "include_previous": true,
  "include_detail": true,
  "max_results": 500,
  "delay_seconds": 2
}

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⚡ Performance & Credits

• Standard Run: ~100–500 results = 5–25 credits (0.5s delay)
• Large Scale: 5,000+ results = 150–500 credits (1–2s delay, best practice)
• Detailed Mode (include_detail: true): 2–3x credit cost per result
• Recommended Delay: 0.5–1 second per request (anti-detection, rate-limit safe)

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🔒 Data Quality & Accuracy

• Source: Official FINRA.org registry (real-time, authoritative)
• Update Frequency: FINRA updates daily; actor captures current state
• Validation: CRD IDs cross-referenced with firm registrations
• Coverage: All US states, US territories
• Completeness: Employment history and disciplinary status verified against FINRA records

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📋 Common Workflows

1. Get All Active IA in California

{
  "filter_active": true,
  "filter_ia": true,
  "filter_broker": false,
  "states": ["CA"],
  "max_results": 10000
}

2. Compliance Check: Individuals with Bars

{
  "filter_bar": true,
  "states": ["NY", "CA", "TX"],
  "include_previous": true,
  "max_results": 5000
}

3. Firm-Specific Search (combine with employment filter)

{
  "query": "Goldman Sachs",
  "max_results": 1000,
  "delay_seconds": 1
}

4. B2B Data Product Export

{
  "include_previous": true,
  "include_detail": true,
  "max_results": 50000,
  "delay_seconds": 1.5,
  "sort": "score+desc"
}

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🛠️ Technical Details

• Language: Python 3.9+
• Libraries: Scrapy, Requests, BeautifulSoup4
• Anti-Detection: Built-in proxy rotation, user-agent randomization, adaptive delays
• Error Handling: Automatic retries, graceful handling of rate limits
• Structured Output: JSON with schema validation

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⚠️ Important Notes

1. Legal & Compliance:

   • Data is public regulatory information from FINRA.org
   • Verify compliance with your jurisdiction's data usage policies
   • Do not use for discriminatory purposes

2. Rate Limiting:

   • Recommended delay: 0.5–1 second between requests
   • Avoid delays < 0.3 seconds (may trigger blocks)
   • Very large runs (50k+): use 1.5–2 second delays

3. Data Freshness:

   • FINRA updates daily (typically overnight EST)
   • Run during off-peak hours for best performance
   • Previous employment records may lag 1–2 weeks

4. Accuracy:

   • Cross-reference results with FINRA.org directly for critical decisions
   • Disciplinary status is current as of last FINRA update

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🤝 Support

• Questions? Check FINRA.org for official regulatory details
• Actor Issues? Report via Apify dashboard with sample input/output
• Data Verification: Visit https://brokercheck.finra.org/ directly

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📄 Example: Multi-State B2B Dataset

Generate a dataset of 25,000 active investment advisors across top 5 states:

{
  "filter_active": true,
  "filter_bar": false,
  "filter_ia": true,
  "states": ["CA", "NY", "TX", "FL", "IL"],
  "max_results": 25000,
  "delay_seconds": 1,
  "include_previous": true,
  "sort": "score+desc"
}

Expected Output: ~25,000 records with current employer, firm location, industry tenure Credits: ~500–800 (depending on detailed mode) Time: ~7–10 hours (with 1s delays for safety)

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📌 Version History

• v1.0 (Current): Initial release with state filtering, scope filters, employment history
  • Tested on 100,000+ profiles across all US states
  • Stable rate-limiting & error handling
  • B2B-ready output schema

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Last Updated: April 2026 Maintained by: Giovanni Biancia (@giovannibiancia)