FINRA Bumps Up Gift Limit to $250 for Finance Pros
Published Date: 6/17/2025
Notice
Summary
FINRA is updating its rules to let financial pros give gifts up to $250 per person each year, up from $100. This change affects anyone working in finance who follows FINRA rules and aims to make gift-giving clearer and fairer. The new limits and rules could start soon, so firms should get ready to adjust their gift policies and keep things transparent.
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Gift Limit Raised to $250
FINRA proposes to raise the per-person annual gift limit from $100 to $250 under FINRA Rule 3220 and to update the same $250 limit in Rules 2310, 2320, 2341, and 5110. The $100 limit has been in place since 1992; FINRA says it used inflation since 1992 to arrive at $250 and intends to review the limit periodically.
How Gifts Are Valued and Aggregated
FINRA proposes to codify valuation and aggregation rules: non-ticket gifts would be valued at cost (exclusive of tax and delivery), tickets would be valued at the higher of cost or face value, and members must aggregate all gifts given by the member and its associated persons to a particular recipient over the course of the year and specify in procedures whether aggregation is by calendar year, fiscal year, or on a rolling basis.
De Minimis, Commemoratives, and Disaster Donations
The proposal codifies that de minimis or promotional items must have value substantially below the $250 limit to be excluded from the gift limit and recordkeeping; customary solely decorative commemorative items (e.g., Lucite stones or plaques) are excluded even if they cost more than $250; and donations to assist employees after a federally-declared major disaster are not treated as gifts 'in relation to the business of the employer' for Rule 3220 purposes.
Supervision, Recordkeeping, and Scope Clarified
FINRA would add supplementary material requiring members to have systems to ensure gifts in relation to a recipient's employer are reported, reviewed for compliance (including aggregation), and maintained in records; require that the person giving a gift not be the sole decider about whether it is personal; and expressly state that Rule 3220 does not apply to gifts from a member to its own associated persons or to gifts to individual retail customers.
FINRA Can Grant Exemptions
The proposed Rule 3220 would add a new paragraph authorizing FINRA staff, under the Rule 9600 Series, to conditionally or unconditionally grant exemptions from any provision of Rule 3220 for good cause shown, consistent with investor protection and the public interest.
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