Naming a trusted contact
Free. About a minute. Last updated 10 October 2026
Every brokerage account form has a line for a trusted contact person. In a 2024 FINRA Foundation survey, more than half of investors said they had not named one; it looks like one more box between them and the end of the form. It gives that person nothing. What it gives the firm is someone it is allowed to call — and that matters most in the situation nobody pictures for themselves: a perfectly capable adult being talked out of their savings by someone they trust.
One phone number, no authority
FINRA Rule 4512 requires a brokerage firm to make reasonable efforts to get the name and contact details of a trusted contact, age 18 or older, for every account that is not an institutional one. Asking for it on the account form counts as reasonable efforts. You are free to leave it blank, and the account opens anyway.
Naming someone does not give them any authority to act for you, place trades, or learn your balance on their own. It does not make them your power of attorney, guardian, trustee or executor. That is the joint wording of the SEC, FINRA and the state securities regulators, and it is the reason the line is safe to fill in.
What the firm may tell them, and why
The rule lists the reasons a firm may contact the person you name and share information about your account with them:
- to address possible financial exploitation;
- to confirm your current contact information or your health status;
- to find out who your legal guardian, executor, trustee or power of attorney is;
- or as Rule 2165 allows — the hold described below.
So the person cannot call in and ask what you have. The firm can call them, for those purposes. That asymmetry is the whole design.
The hold: what a firm may do when it suspects exploitation
FINRA Rule 2165 lets a firm put a temporary hold on money or securities leaving the account of a specified adult — anyone 65 or older, or an adult of any age the firm reasonably believes has a mental or physical impairment that leaves them unable to protect their own interests. Since 17 March 2022 the hold can also stop a securities trade, not only a withdrawal.
The trigger is that the firm reasonably believes financial exploitation has happened, is happening, has been attempted or will be attempted. Then:
- Up to 15 business days for the first hold. The firm must start an internal review immediately, and only staff in a supervisory, compliance or legal role may authorize it.
- Up to 10 more if that review supports the firm's belief — 25 in total.
- Up to 30 more if the review still supports it and the firm has reported the matter to a state regulator or agency or to a court — 55 business days in total.
- A state regulator, agency or court can end the hold sooner or extend it further.
Within two business days of placing the hold, the firm must tell the people authorized to transact on the account, and the trusted contact, what it has done and why — unless it reasonably believes that person is involved.
Two limits worth knowing. The rule is a safe harbor, not a duty: it permits a hold and does not require one. And it is short by design. Fifteen business days is three weeks — not a court order, not an investigation, but enough time for someone who cares about you to sit down at the kitchen table.
It is about exploitation, not about capacity
This is the misunderstanding that keeps people from filling in the line. They assume it is for people who are losing their judgment, and they are not, so they skip it.
The rule does not ask whether you are competent. A customer who is 65 or older qualifies by age alone. And the definition of financial exploitation covers more than theft: it includes anyone gaining control over an older person's money through deception, intimidation or undue influence. In other words, it is written for the case where every signature is genuine and every transfer was authorized by the customer — because that is how most of these cases look from the inside.
Who to name
The regulators' bulletin suggests a family member, close friend, attorney, accountant or another person you believe would respect your privacy and be willing to help. A few things follow from how the rules work:
- You can name more than one, and change the name as often as you like.
- Think about who will be reachable in ten years. The line is used when someone has been alone long enough to be worked on — which for many people means after a spouse has died. A spouse can be a good name; a spouse as the only name is a gamble on timing.
- A second name protects against the first. The firm will not notify a contact it believes is involved. If the person you named is the one asking you for money, a second name is the one the firm can still call.
- If you are helping a parent, ask them to choose. It is their account and their decision, and a name they picked themselves is worth more than one you wrote in for them.
If you cannot find where to add one, ask the firm in writing, and keep the reply.
Where these rules apply, and where they do not
Rules 4512 and 2165 bind brokerage firms that are members of FINRA, wherever you live. They do not bind banks. A December 2024 interagency statement from the federal financial regulators says banks and credit unions may let customers name trusted contacts, and notes that some state laws let banks hold a suspicious transaction — so at a bank the line may exist or may not. Ask.
The rules may change soon
On 20 August 2026 FINRA filed a proposal with the SEC, file number SR-FINRA-2026-018. As published, it would raise the longest possible hold from 55 to 145 business days through three further 30-day extensions, state plainly that a customer may name more than one trusted contact, and add a new Rule 2166 letting firms delay a payment or trade for up to 10 business days on suspected fraud for any customer, regardless of age. FINRA has extended the time for SEC action to 8 December 2026. As of the date at the top of this page none of it is in effect; everything above describes the rules as they stand.
If you are worried about someone now
FINRA runs a toll-free Securities Helpline for Seniors: 844-574-3577, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern. It is there for older investors who have questions or concerns about their accounts, including concerns about how a brokerage account is being handled.
Where to read the primary sources
- FINRA Rule 4512 — paragraph (a)(1)(F) and Supplementary Material .06: the trusted contact, its age limit, and what the firm may disclose.
- FINRA Rule 2165 — the specified adult, the definition of exploitation, the hold periods and the notice.
- Regulatory Notice 22-05 — the 2022 amendments: the 55-day maximum and holds on trades.
- Why you should consider adding a trusted contact — the joint SEC, FINRA and NASAA bulletin.
- FINRA FAQ on financial exploitation of seniors — what counts as reasonable efforts, and other questions.
- SR-FINRA-2026-018 — the pending proposal, with the SEC notice (which also cites the survey figure above) and the extension letter.
- FINRA Securities Helpline for Seniors.
- Interagency Statement on Elder Financial Exploitation — the federal financial regulators on trusted contacts and holds at banks and credit unions (PDF).
What this page is not
It is not legal or financial advice, and a hold is not a remedy — it buys time, and what happens in that time is up to the people involved. Money that has already left an account is usually much harder to recover than money that never left. This page tells you what one line on a form does, so that you fill it in while it still costs a minute.
