News Release
Securities Firms Elect Seven Industry Governors to FINRA Board of Governors
Washington, D.C. — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) today announced the results of elections to fill seven industry seats on its 23-member Board of Governors. The elections were conducted at FINRA's first-ever Annual Meeting on October 26. The newly elected Governors will serve three-year terms.
FINRA is the non-governmental self-regulatory agency formed in July by the consolidation of NASD and the member regulation, enforcement and arbitration functions of New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Regulation. FINRA has jurisdiction over all securities firms doing business in the United States.
Large Firms (those with 500 or more registered representatives) elected three Governors: Richard F. Brueckner, CEO of Pershing LLC; Robert J. McCann, President of Merrill Lynch Global Private Client Group; and Thomas A. Russo, Vice Chairman and Chief Legal Officer of Lehman Brothers Inc.
Mid-Size Firms (those with 151 to 499 registered representatives) elected one Governor: W. Dennis Ferguson, Executive Vice President and Director of Clearing, Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc.
Small Firms (those with 150 or fewer registered representatives) elected three Governors: Richard L. Goble, Founder and Principal Shareholder of North American Clearing, Inc.; G. Donald Steel, President of Planned Investment Company, Inc.; and Duncan F. Williams, President of Duncan-Williams, Inc.
NYSE Regulation Chief Executive Officer Richard G. Ketchum will serve as Chairman of the FINRA Board. FINRA Chief Executive Officer Mary L. Schapiro also will serve on the Board. The Board includes the seven elected industry Governors, along with three additional industry Governors and 11 public Governors appointed by the former NASD Board of Governors, the NYSE Group's Board of Directors, or both. The three appointed industry Governors represent NYSE Floor Brokers, Independent Dealers/Insurance Affiliates and Investment Company Affiliates.
"FINRA has a great deal of important work ahead as it deals with a rapidly changing financial services landscape, consolidating markets and the increasing pressures of globalization," Ketchum said. "This Board will provide critical leadership as we face those challenges and modernize the ways we meet our commitment to investor protection and market integrity."
"I applaud our new Board and know they will share my commitment to investor protection and market integrity," Schapiro said. "The collective professional experience—and insight—of the seven Governors about to join us will be invaluable as we continue to shape effective regulation as FINRA."
The appointed members are:
FINRA is the non-governmental self-regulatory agency formed in July by the consolidation of NASD and the member regulation, enforcement and arbitration functions of New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Regulation. FINRA has jurisdiction over all securities firms doing business in the United States.
Large Firms (those with 500 or more registered representatives) elected three Governors: Richard F. Brueckner, CEO of Pershing LLC; Robert J. McCann, President of Merrill Lynch Global Private Client Group; and Thomas A. Russo, Vice Chairman and Chief Legal Officer of Lehman Brothers Inc.
Mid-Size Firms (those with 151 to 499 registered representatives) elected one Governor: W. Dennis Ferguson, Executive Vice President and Director of Clearing, Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc.
Small Firms (those with 150 or fewer registered representatives) elected three Governors: Richard L. Goble, Founder and Principal Shareholder of North American Clearing, Inc.; G. Donald Steel, President of Planned Investment Company, Inc.; and Duncan F. Williams, President of Duncan-Williams, Inc.
NYSE Regulation Chief Executive Officer Richard G. Ketchum will serve as Chairman of the FINRA Board. FINRA Chief Executive Officer Mary L. Schapiro also will serve on the Board. The Board includes the seven elected industry Governors, along with three additional industry Governors and 11 public Governors appointed by the former NASD Board of Governors, the NYSE Group's Board of Directors, or both. The three appointed industry Governors represent NYSE Floor Brokers, Independent Dealers/Insurance Affiliates and Investment Company Affiliates.
"FINRA has a great deal of important work ahead as it deals with a rapidly changing financial services landscape, consolidating markets and the increasing pressures of globalization," Ketchum said. "This Board will provide critical leadership as we face those challenges and modernize the ways we meet our commitment to investor protection and market integrity."
"I applaud our new Board and know they will share my commitment to investor protection and market integrity," Schapiro said. "The collective professional experience—and insight—of the seven Governors about to join us will be invaluable as we continue to shape effective regulation as FINRA."
The appointed members are:
- Charles A. Bowsher, former Comptroller General of the United States, appointed as a Public Governor.
- John J. Brennan, Chairman and CEO of The Vanguard Group, appointed as the Investment Company Affiliate Governor.
- Ellyn L. Brown, President of Brown & Associates, appointed as a Public Governor.
- James E. Burton, CEO of the World Gold Council, appointed as a Public Governor.
- Sir Brian Corby, former Chairman of Prudential Corporation plc, appointed as a Public Governor.
- John F.X. Dolan, CEO of the Kellogg Specialist Group, appointed as the Floor Member Governor.
- Harvey J. Goldschmid, Dwight Professor of Law at Columbia University Law School and former SEC Commissioner, appointed as a Public Governor.
- William H. Heyman, Vice Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of the Travelers Companies, Inc., appointed as a Public Governor.
- Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Chair of NYSE Regulation's Board of Directors, appointed as a Public Governor.
- Richard S. Pechter, former Chairman of DLJ Financial Services Group and DLJ Direct, appointed as a Public Governor.
- Mark A. Sargent, Dean and Professor of Law at Villanova University School of Law, appointed as a Public Governor.
- Joel Seligman, President of the University of Rochester, appointed as a Public Governor.
- John S. Simmers, CEO of ING Advisors Network, appointed as the Independent Dealer/Insurance Affiliate Governor.
- Kurt P. Stocker, Visiting Lecturer at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, appointed as a Public Governor.