Report From FINRA Board of Governors Meeting – September 2022

Board Approves Rulemaking Items, Hosts Securities and Exchange Commission Officials

WASHINGTON—FINRA’s Board of Governors held its fourth meeting of the year—the first with Eric Noll as Chair—on Sept. 21-22 in New York. The Board approved two rulemaking items and continued its engagement with key stakeholders by hosting officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The FINRA Board often hosts SEC officials and various stakeholders during a portion of its meetings. During the September meeting, the Board was joined by three SEC senior leaders—Richard Best, Director, Division of Examinations; Joy Thompson, Acting Deputy Director of the Division of Examinations and Associate Regional Director of the SEC’s Philadelphia Regional Office; and Kevin Goodman, Associate Director, FINRA and Securities Industry Oversight Examination Program—to discuss the work undertaken by FINRA and SEC staff to coordinate their respective examination activities and efforts to enhance investor protection. This was the first such meeting for Best and Thompson; the FINRA Board last hosted Goodman in September 2019.

Rulemaking

The Board approved two rule proposals:

Amendments to the Arbitration Codes to Make Various Clarifying and Technical Changes – The Board approved the submission to the SEC of proposed amendments to the Codes of Arbitration Procedure to make various clarifying and technical changes to the Codes.
Amendments to Increase Certain Arbitration and Mediation Forum Fees and Arbitrator Honoraria – The Board approved the submission to the SEC of proposed amendments to the Codes of Arbitration and Mediation Procedure to increase certain arbitration and mediation forum fees and arbitrator honoraria.

In addition, in its first meeting under new chair Maureen Jensen, the Board’s Regulatory Policy Committee discussed the status of various pending rule proposals, including the current phase of each proposal in the rulemaking process. For general information about FINRA’s rulemaking process, see www.finra.org/rules-guidance/rulemaking-process.

The next FINRA Board of Governors meeting is scheduled for Dec. 7-8, 2022. More information regarding the Board's operations, including the membership and responsibilities of its committees, is available at www.finra.org/governance.

About FINRA

FINRA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to investor protection and market integrity. It regulates one critical part of the securities industry—brokerage firms doing business with the public in the United States. FINRA, overseen by the SEC, writes rules, examines for and enforces compliance with FINRA rules and federal securities laws, registers broker-dealer personnel and offers them education and training, and informs the investing public. In addition, FINRA provides surveillance and other regulatory services for equities and options markets, as well as trade reporting and other industry utilities. FINRA also administers a dispute resolution forum for investors and brokerage firms and their registered employees. For more information, visit www.finra.org.