Reference

Regulatory glossary

38 terms that show up in the wire — recall classes, notice types, statutes, filing numbers — each with the governing source named. Written for people who have to act on these notices, not study them.

FDA

Class I recall

An FDA recall classification for a product with a reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or death (21 CFR 7.3). RegPing marks Class I recalls urgent. See also: Class II recall, Enforcement Report.

Class II recall

A recall where exposure may cause temporary or medically reversible harm, or where the probability of serious harm is remote. The most common class: about 88 percent of device recalls. See also: Class I recall, Class III recall.

Class III recall

A recall for a product unlikely to cause adverse health consequences, typically labeling or minor manufacturing deviations. See also: Class II recall.

Enforcement Report

FDA's weekly listing of every classified recall, plus entries not yet classified. It is the only place recalls without a press release appear, usually weeks after the recall began. Posts on Wednesdays. See also: Class I recall, Recall number.

Recall number

FDA's per-product identifier for a classified recall, in the form letter-sequence-year (Z-2914-2026 for a device, D- for a drug, F- or H- for food). The Event ID groups all products in one recall. See also: Enforcement Report.

510(k)

A premarket notification showing a device is substantially equivalent to one already on the market. Clearances carry a K-number: K plus two digits for the year and four for the sequence (K260563). See also: De Novo.

De Novo

A pathway for novel low-to-moderate-risk devices with no predicate; grants carry a DEN number. Cleared De Novo devices become predicates for future 510(k)s. See also: 510(k).

MAUDE

The Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience database of device adverse-event reports. FDA warns the data are unverified and cannot establish causation. Updated monthly on the FDA site, weekly in name on openFDA. See also: MedWatch.

MedWatch

FDA's safety-information and adverse-event reporting program, and the name of its safety-alert feed for drugs, devices and biologics. See also: MAUDE.

Warning Letter

A formal FDA notice of significant violations that gives the firm 15 working days to respond. Letters are posted online after redaction, a mean of 19 days after issuance, and are not removed unless rescinded. See also: Enforcement Report.

Early alert

A device communication FDA now posts before a recall is formally classified, when the potential harm is serious. It appears on the Class I recalls page ahead of the recall itself. See also: Class I recall.

Financial

Litigation release

The SEC's public notice of a civil action in federal court, numbered LR-NNNNN. Most litigation releases have no press release. See also: Administrative proceeding.

Administrative proceeding

An SEC enforcement case decided in-house rather than in court, published as an order with a release number (33-, 34-, IA-, IC-) and a docket file number (3-22705). See also: Litigation release, AAER.

AAER

Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release: an SEC administrative order or opinion involving accountants or financial reporting, tagged with a second number (AAER-4599). See also: Administrative proceeding.

Regulatory Notice

FINRA's primary channel for new or amended rules and guidance to member firms, numbered by year (26-16). Usually states an effective date. See also: AWC.

AWC

A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent: FINRA's settlement instrument, in which a firm or person accepts findings and sanctions without admitting or denying them. Published in Disciplinary Actions Online and the monthly report. See also: Regulatory Notice.

Financial Institution Letter

An FDIC communication to the banks it supervises, numbered FIL-NN-YYYY, carrying guidance, joint statements or rule summaries. See also: OCC Bulletin.

OCC Bulletin

Supervisory guidance from the Comptroller of the Currency to national bank CEOs, numbered OCC YYYY-NN. Handbook revisions and interagency statements arrive as bulletins. See also: Financial Institution Letter.

Consent order

An enforcement settlement in which the institution agrees to findings and remedies without a contested hearing. Used by the OCC, FDIC, NYDFS, FinCEN and the FTC; the operative document is a PDF. See also: Civil money penalty.

Civil money penalty

A monetary fine imposed by a regulator, often alongside a consent order. FinCEN's largest was $1.3 billion against TD Bank in 2024. See also: Consent order.

Part 500

NYDFS's cybersecurity regulation (23 NYCRR 500) for institutions it licenses: 72-hour incident notice, 24-hour extortion-payment notice, annual certification by April 15, and universal MFA since November 2025. See also: Consent order.

Geographic Targeting Order

A FinCEN order requiring extra reporting from named businesses in named areas for up to 180 days. The Southwest Border money-services order is the one currently renewing. See also: Suspicious Activity Report.

Suspicious Activity Report

The Bank Secrecy Act filing (SAR) for suspected illicit activity. FinCEN alerts and advisories add key terms institutions are expected to use in SAR narratives. See also: Geographic Targeting Order.

Cannabis

Metrc

The seed-to-sale tracking system used by Massachusetts, California, Oregon, New Jersey, Illinois (since July 2025) and New York (since late 2025). Inventory must match Metrc, and discrepancies are a common enforcement finding. See also: CCRS, Seed-to-sale.

CCRS

Washington's in-house Cannabis Central Reporting System, which replaced Leaf Data Systems in December 2021. Licensees submit weekly reports; it does not enforce conversions the way Metrc does. See also: Metrc.

Seed-to-sale

Tracking of every cannabis plant and product from cultivation through retail sale, required by every state on the wire. RegPing does not replace it. See also: Metrc.

Quarantine order

A regulator's order holding specific product in place pending testing or investigation. In Massachusetts these appear in the enforcement table, not on a recall page. See also: Summary suspension, Mandatory recall.

Summary suspension

An immediate license suspension before a hearing, used when the regulator finds a threat to public health or safety. Washington and Massachusetts both post them. See also: Quarantine order.

Mandatory recall

A recall ordered by the regulator rather than initiated by the licensee. California issued 25 in fiscal 2024-25; Illinois has never issued one. See also: Quarantine order.

Stipulated settlement

An agreed resolution of a violation, typically a suspension with a civil-penalty alternative. Oregon publishes them monthly as PDFs ratified at the commission meeting. See also: Summary suspension.

Emergency regulation

A rule adopted without the normal comment period, effective on filing for a limited time (three months in Massachusetts, 180 days in California) while a permanent rule is made. See also: Mandatory recall.

AI & Privacy

CCPA

The California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the CPRA. Enforced civilly by the Attorney General and administratively by CalPrivacy; the largest penalty so far is $12.75 million (General Motors, 2026). See also: Delete Act, ADMT.

Delete Act

California's data-broker law requiring annual registration and, from August 2026, processing of deletion requests through the state's DROP platform on 45-day cycles. See also: CCPA.

ADMT

Automated decision-making technology, the subject of CalPrivacy's 2025 regulations. Obligations apply from January 1, 2027. See also: CCPA.

Global Privacy Control

A browser signal that must be honored as an opt-out of sale or sharing under the CCPA. Ignoring it has been the basis of several Attorney General and CalPrivacy actions. See also: CCPA.

Article 64 opinion

A consistency opinion the EDPB issues when a national authority proposes a measure with cross-border effect. Twenty-nine were issued in 2025. See also: Binding decision.

Binding decision

An EDPB decision under GDPR Article 65 that resolves a dispute between national authorities. Rare: eight in the Board's history, the latest in May 2026. See also: Article 64 opinion.

EU AI Act

The EU's regulation of AI systems by risk class. Prohibitions applied from February 2025, general-purpose model duties from August 2025, transparency duties from August 2026; the Digital Omnibus deferred Annex III high-risk obligations to December 2, 2027. See also: Binding decision.