In February 2026, the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) approved a significant amendment to the regulations of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) regarding gifts and business courtesies. According to the update to the well-known Gifts Rule (Rule 3220), the annual limit on permitted gifts has been increased from 100 to 300 dollars per recipient. This is the first adjustment to this amount since 1992 and responds both to the cumulative inflationary erosion over more than three decades and to the need to adapt the rule to current practices in the financial sector.
For financial advisors and professionals who serve high-net-worth clients, the change provides greater flexibility in the area of business courtesies, without altering the guiding principle of the rule: to avoid improper incentives or conflicts of interest. “The new threshold maintains the limit per person and per year, reinforcing the logic of prudence and proportionality. In practice, the update brings economic coherence to a figure that had become outdated, while preserving the control framework designed to protect the integrity of professional relationships,” explain representatives from the U.S. authority.
Beyond the quantitative increase, the reform incorporates greater technical clarity: FINRA has codified within the rule itself criteria that had previously relied on dispersed interpretative guidance, including aspects such as the valuation of gifts, their aggregation when there are multiple recipients, and the treatment of courtesies linked to events or business activities. Likewise, “certain exclusions are defined more precisely, such as personal gifts unrelated to professional activity or certain condolence gifts, providing legal certainty to both firms and registered professionals,” the update notes.
For experts, this change is also significant because it expressly authorizes FINRA to grant exemptions in specific cases, under certain conditions. This authority introduces an additional degree of supervised flexibility, particularly relevant for entities with complex structures or an international presence. At the same time, the SEC emphasizes that the update does not reduce expectations regarding internal supervision: firms must maintain systems and procedures reasonably designed to ensure effective compliance with the rule.
