In the capital markets context, a finder is a person that receives compensation from an issuer of securities for soliciting and putting the issuer in contact with potential investors in those securities. Finders typically have no active role in negotiations and do not bind either party to the proposed transaction. Finders acting in this limited capacity generally do not register with the SEC as broker-dealers. The practice of finders engaging in these limited activities without being required to register as a broker-dealer under the Exchange Act is based not on any statutory or rule-based exemption for finders, but on a series of SEC no-action letters.

In the bank regulatory context, a finder is an intermediary that brings together one or more buyers and sellers of any product or service for transactions that the parties themselves negotiate and consummate, as defined in the regulations applicable to financial holdings companies (12 C.F.R. § 225.86).