FINRA Vice Chairman Stephen Luparello Leaving to Join WilmerHale

WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that FINRA Vice Chairman Stephen Luparello, who has been at FINRA and one of its predecessor organizations, NASD, for more than 16 years, is leaving to join the WilmerHale law firm in Washington, D.C. Luparello's last day at FINRA will be October 7.

Prior to being named Vice Chairman in 2009, Luparello served as Interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Luparello oversees FINRA's regulatory operations, including Enforcement, Market Regulation, Member Regulation and Business Solutions. Luparello was instrumental in the creation of the Office of the Whistleblower and the Office of Fraud Detection and Market Intelligence in 2009. Among his many other accomplishments, he led the development and implementation of the Order Audit Trail System (OATS) and SONAR, state-of-the-art market regulation technology systems that have made FINRA the leader in this country in monitoring securities trading and detecting insider trading.

Richard Ketchum, FINRA Chairman and CEO, said, "Steve has been at the heart of the work FINRA has done to protect investors for almost 16 years. He helped lead the organization through one of the most critical times for securities regulators and helped build and shape many of FINRA's regulatory programs. Steve's leadership in helping FINRA respond to the challenges and changes in the markets has been paramount to FINRA fulfilling its mission of investor protection and market integrity."

Luparello joined NASD in 1996 as Vice President in the Office of Disciplinary Policy. In 1999, he became head of NASD's Market Regulation Department, where he was responsible for oversight of trading on the NASDAQ Stock Market, the American Stock Exchange, the Over-the-Counter equities market and the corporate and municipal fixed income markets.

Before joining FINRA, Luparello served in various capacities at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. 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 firms. For more information, please visit www.finra.org.