FINRA is planning to consolidate its Examination and Risk Monitoring Programs, integrating three separate programs into a single program.
The move is set to drive more effective oversight and greater consistency, eliminate duplication and create a single point of accountability for the examination of firms according to the regulator.
It is a result of FINRA360, the organisation’s ongoing comprehensive self-evaluation and improvement initiative.
FINRA regulates more than 3,700 firms and 630,000 individual brokers, and regularly examines every firm for compliance with FINRA’s rules and those of the SEC and the MSRB.
Those examination responsibilities are currently divided among three different programs responsible for business conduct, financial and trading compliance.
FINRA now plans to bring those programs under a single framework designed to better ‘direct and align’ examination resources to the risk profile and complexity of member firms. Among other benefits, FINRA expects the new structure to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the program.
Planning for the consolidation is already underway, overseen by Bari Havlik, who joined FINRA in April as executive vice president of member supervision. She will be supported by a steering committee of senior executives.
“Our Examination and Risk Monitoring program is central to our efforts to protect investors and guard the integrity of markets. After careful consideration and extensive feedback from internal and external stakeholders, we are moving toward a program structure that is based on the firms we oversee. By directing our expertise and resources in a more tailored way, we will become more effective at examining for compliance,” said FINRA President and CEO Robert W. Cook.
“Bari brings valuable perspective to her role at the helm of this transformation and, under her leadership, we have begun to create and implement a roadmap that thoughtfully and methodically builds towards the new structure.”
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