New York, NY securities attorney Jenice L. Malecki talks about FINRA Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC). She notes that a FINRA AWC, or Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent, represents a formal settlement with FINRA. It involves agreeing to certain stipulated facts, waiving the right to a hearing, and consenting to a penalty. Similar to SEC settlements, an AWC often allows the individual to neither admit nor deny the allegations, meaning they do not have to explicitly acknowledge wrongdoing. However, they also cannot outright deny the allegations in regulatory proceedings.

This framework allows FINRA—and similarly the SEC—to resolve investigated matters efficiently, either as they move into or are already in the complaint phase. While the individual cannot deny the allegations in the regulatory context, they may defend themselves in separate litigation, such as a customer dispute. AWCs are essentially the standard mechanism through which FINRA structures settlements of regulatory matters.