On behalf of Thomas Costello of Costello Law Group

On Monday, August 13, 2012 FINRA announced the appointment of 3 new governors to its 22 person board. The new governors include Seth Waugh, CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas, who represents the organization’s large firms; W. Dennis Ferguson, executive vice president and director of Clearing, Sterne, Agee & Leach Inc., who represents midsized firms; and Kevin Carreno, general counsel for International Assets Advisory LLC, who represents small firms.
A spokeswoman for FINRA declined to comment on the issues that the new board will address ahead of the release of a formal agenda. However, the organization has been dealing with a number of items that seem likely to command the attention of the board including the recently enacted “suitability” rules that have the potential to dramatically increase the number of enforcement actions regulators pursue and the proposed 25% increase in the fees that FINRA collects- a proposal that has encountered widespread opposition from industry members.