FINRA's 2026 Gifts Rule Update: The New $300 Limit Explained for the SIE

If you’ve studied for the FINRA SIE exam in the past, you’ve memorized the $100 gift limit. As of March 30, 2026, that number is wrong. FINRA updated Rule 3220 — the Gifts Rule — and the change is significant enough that older study materials will actively cost you points.

This guide walks through everything the SIE now tests on gifts: the new limit, how gifts are valued, what’s excluded, and the gift-versus-entertainment distinction the exam loves.

The headline change: the limit tripled

The single most important fact for the exam:

The annual gift limit increased from $100 to $300 per recipient, per year.

This is the first adjustment since 1992. FINRA raised it to account for more than three decades of inflation, plus projected cost increases over the next decade.

The limit applies to gifts given to employees of institutional customers, vendors, or counterparties in relation to the employer’s business. If you trained on the old $100 figure, overwrite it now — the SIE will test the new number.

New valuation standards

The 2026 update doesn’t just change the dollar amount — it codifies how you value a gift in the first place. The SIE expects you to know these rules:

Gift type	How it’s valued
General gifts	Valued at cost, excluding tax and delivery charges
Event tickets	Valued at the higher of cost or face value
Aggregation	All gifts from a firm and its associated persons to one recipient are added together against the $300 cap

SIE exam tip: The aggregation rule is a classic trick question. A firm can’t give $300 and then have an associated person give another $300 to the same recipient — it all counts toward a single $300 ceiling.

Key exclusions — what does not count toward the $300

The update codifies several categories that are exempt from the limit entirely:

• De minimis / promotional items — nominal items displaying the firm’s logo (pens, umbrellas, shirts), as long as their value is “substantially below” $300.
• Personal gifts — gifts for infrequent life events such as a wedding or the birth of a child, provided the firm does not bear the cost.
• Bereavement gifts — customary and reasonable gifts related to a death.
• Business commemorative items — solely decorative items marking a specific business transaction (think a deal toy or plaque).

SIE exam tip: The personal gifts exclusion hinges on who pays. If the firm foots the bill for the wedding gift, it’s no longer a personal gift — it counts toward the $300.

Gifts vs. business entertainment

The SIE still wants you to separate a gift from business entertainment, and the new rule keeps the line in the same place:

• Entertainment — a firm representative accompanies the guest to the event (a dinner, a ballgame). This is governed by a principles-based standard: it must be “ordinary and usual.” There’s no $300 cap on entertainment.
• Gift — the guest gets a ticket but no firm representative attends with them. That’s a gift, and it counts toward the $300 annual limit.

SIE exam tip: The deciding factor is attendance. Same ticket, same value — whether it’s a “gift” or “entertainment” depends entirely on whether someone from the firm shows up alongside the guest.

Supervisory procedures

Firms must maintain written supervisory procedures (WSPs) to keep gifts compliant. Under the WSPs, gifts must be:

• Reported by the giver,
• Reviewed by an independent party — someone other than the person who gave the gift, and
• Properly recorded in the firm’s books.

What else the SIE expects you to connect

A few cross-topic points the exam links to the Gifts Rule:

• Non-cash compensation alignment — the same $300 limit applies to the non-cash compensation rules for variable contracts and investment company securities. The exam likes to test this consistency.
• Retail exception — the Gifts Rule does not apply to gifts given to a firm’s own employees or to individual retail customers. It’s aimed at gifts tied to the employer’s business with institutional customers, vendors, and counterparties.

Key takeaways for the SIE

• The annual gift limit is now $300 per recipient per year (up from $100) — effective March 30, 2026.
• General gifts are valued at cost (excluding tax and delivery); event tickets at the higher of cost or face value.
• All gifts from a firm and its associated persons to one recipient are aggregated against the single $300 cap.
• Excluded: de minimis promotional items, personal gifts for life events (if the firm doesn’t pay), bereavement gifts, and decorative business commemorative items.
• Entertainment (rep accompanies the guest) has no $300 cap; an unaccompanied ticket is a gift and counts toward the limit.
• Firms need WSPs so gifts are reported, independently reviewed, and recorded.
• The $300 figure also governs non-cash compensation for variable contracts and investment company securities.
• The rule does not cover gifts to a firm’s own employees or to individual retail customers.

If your study materials still say $100, they predate this update — make sure every practice question you drill reflects the new $300 limit.