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Nancy Condon (202) 728-8379
Herb Perone (202) 728-8464

 

FINRA Announces Interim Board of Governors to Serve Until Annual Meeting for Board Elections

Washington, D.C. — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) today announced the members of its 23-member Interim Board of Governors, who will serve until FINRA's three-year Transition Board of Governors is elected at an Annual Meeting on October 26.

At that Annual Meeting, Small Firms (those with 150 or fewer registered representatives) will elect three Board representatives. Mid-Size Firms (those with 151 to 499 registered representatives) will elect one Board representative. Large Firms (those with 500 or more registered representatives) will elect three Board representatives. Fourteen of the governors appointed to the Interim Board will continue to serve on the Transition Board.

FINRA is the new self-regulatory agency formed by the consolidation of NASD and the member regulation, enforcement and arbitration functions of the New York Stock Exchange.

FINRA Chief Executive Officer Mary L. Schapiro will serve on both the Interim and Transition Boards. NYSE Regulation Chief Executive Officer Richard Ketchum will serve as Chairman of both Boards. Both Boards will include 11 public governors appointed from outside the securities industry and 10 governors from inside the securities industry. Seven of the industry governors will be elected, as explained above. Three industry governors will be appointed-one each to represent NYSE Floor Brokers, Independent Dealers/Insurance Affiliates and Investment Company Affiliates.

Before the consolidation of NASD and NYSE Member Regulation, which became effective on July 30, 2007, NASD's Board of Governors and NYSE Group's Board of Directors appointed the 21 remaining members of the Interim Board. They are:

  • John Bachman, Senior Partner at Edward Jones & Company and a former member of NASD's Board of Governors, appointed by NASD as an industry representative. Bachman will serve only on the Interim Board.
  • LaRae Bakerink, CEO of WBB Securities, LLC and who served as the Small Firm representative on NASD's Board of Governors, appointed by NASD as an industry representative. Bakerink will serve only on the Interim Board.
  • Brian Kovack, President of Kovack Securities Inc. and a former member of NASD's Board of Governors, appointed by NASD as an industry representative. Kovack will serve only on the Interim Board.
  • John Simmers, CEO of ING Advisors Network and a former member of NASD's Board of Governors, appointed by NASD as an Independent Dealer representative. Simmers will serve on both Boards.
  • Charles Bowsher, former Comptroller General of the U.S. and a former member of NASD's Board of Governors, appointed by NASD as a public governor. Bowsher will serve on both Boards.
  • James Burton, CEO of the World Gold Council and a former member of NASD's Board of Governors, appointed by NASD as a public governor. Burton will serve on both Boards.
  • Sir Brian Corby, Chairman (retired) of Prudential Corporation plc and a former member of NASD's Board of Governors, appointed by NASD as a public governor. Corby will serve on both Boards.
  • William Heyman, Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of the Travelers Companies, Inc. and a former member of NASD's Board of Governors, appointed by NASD as a public governor. Heyman will serve on both Boards.
  • Joel Seligman, President of the University of Rochester and a former member of NASD's Board of Governors, appointed by NASD as a public governor. Seligman will serve on both Boards.
  • Richard Brueckner, CEO of Pershing LLC and a former member of NASD's Board of Governors, appointed by NYSE Group as a Large Firm representative. Brueckner will stand for election to a Large Firm seat at the Board's Annual Meeting.
  • Robert J. McCann, President of Merrill Lynch's Global Private Client Group, appointed by NYSE Group as a Large Firm representative. McCann will stand for election to a Large Firm seat at the Board's Annual Meeting.
  • Thomas Russo, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., appointed by NYSE Group as a Large Firm representative. Russo will stand for election to a Large Firm seat at the Board's Annual Meeting.
  • John Dolan, CEO of the Kellogg Specialist Group, appointed by NYSE Group as a Floor Broker representative. Dolan will serve on both Boards.
  • Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Chair of NYSE Regulation's Board of Directors and a member of NYSE Euronext's Board of Directors, appointed by NYSE Group as a public governor. Jackson will serve on both Boards.
  • Ellyn Brown, President of Brown & Associates and a member of the NYSE Euronext and NYSE Regulation Boards of Directors, appointed by NYSE Group as a public governor. Brown will serve on both Boards.
  • Richard Pechter, former Chairman of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette financial services group and a member of NYSE Regulation's Board of Directors, appointed by NYSE Group as a public governor. Pechter will serve on both Boards.
  • Mark Sargent, Dean and Professor of Law at Villanova University School of Law and a member of NYSE Regulation's Board of Directors, appointed by NYSE Group as a public governor. Sargent will serve on both Boards.
  • Kurt P. Stocker, Visiting Lecturer at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and a member of NYSE Regulation's Board of Directors, appointed by NYSE Group as a public governor. Stocker will serve on both Boards.
  • Harvey Goldschmid, Senior Counsel at Weil, Gotshal & Manges and former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner, appointed jointly by NASD and NYSE Group as a public governor. Goldschmid will serve on both Boards.
  • Jack Brennan, Chairman and CEO of The Vanguard Group and former member of NASD's Board of Governors, appointed jointly by NASD and NYSE Group as an Investment Company Affiliate representative. Brennan will serve on both Boards.
  • W. Dennis Ferguson, Executive Vice President and Director of Clearing at Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc. and a former member of NASD's Board of Governors, appointed jointly by NASD and NYSE Group as a Mid-Size Firm representative. Ferguson will stand for election to the Mid-Size Firms seat at the Board's Annual Meeting.

Also prior to the consolidation, NASD nominated three individuals to run for election to the Board's three Small Firm seats at the Board's Annual Meeting. They are:

  • Robert Muh, CEO of Sutter Securities Inc.
  • G. Donald Steel, president of Planned Investment Company, Inc.
  • Duncan Williams, president of Duncan Williams Inc.

Through a petition process, Small Firms, Mid-Size Firms and Large Firms will be able to nominate additional candidates for their respective Board seats.

FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is the largest non-governmental regulator for all securities firms doing business with the U.S. public. Created in 2007 through the consolidation of NASD and NYSE Member Regulation, FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services. FINRA touches virtually every aspect of the securities business-from registering and educating all industry participants to examining securities firms; writing rules; enforcing those rules and the federal securities laws; informing and educating the investing public; providing trade reporting and other industry utilities, and administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and registered firms.

For more information, please visit our Web site at www.finra.org.