Acting on feedback from the FINRA360 initiative, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Wednesday that it plans to consolidate its existing enforcement functions into a new, unified enforcement group to be led by Susan Schroeder.
Schroeder, executive vice president and head of enforcement, will report directly to the self-regulator's CEO, Robert Cook.
The new unit will bring together two distinct enforcement teams at FINRA: one handling disciplinary actions related to trading-based matters found through Market Regulation's surveillance and examination programs, and the other handling cases referred from other regulatory oversight divisions including Member Regulation, Corporate Financing, the Office of Fraud Detection and Market Intelligence and Advertising Regulation, FINRA said.
The changes are designed to ensure a "uniform approach to charging and sanctions, and to enable FINRA to better target developing issues that can harm investors and market integrity," according to the self-regulator.
"A vigorous and effective enforcement program is central to FINRA's mission of protecting investors and promoting market integrity," Cook said in a statement.
"After careful study, we have determined that this new structure will better enable this critical program to achieve those important goals in the years to come."
Schroeder has been acting Head of Enforcement since former FINRA enforcement chief Brad Bennett left earlier this year. Her previous role was as senior vice president and deputy chief of enforcement.
