Comments made Monday in blog post by Bill St. Louis, head of enforcement for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, that the broker-dealer self-regulator plans to publish an enforcement manual came under the microscope during a House subcommittee hearing Thursday examining FINRA and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.
Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., chairwoman of the House Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee, noted the Securities and Exchange Commission's announcement on Feb. 24 that it had made updates to the agency's enforcement manual, including that it would update it annually going forward.
The updated enforcement manual "underscores the commission's ongoing commitment to fairness, transparency and efficiency in the investigations conducted by the division," Wagner said.
Wagner then referred to St. Louis' blog post, in which he announced that the regulator expected to publish an enforcement manual.
"How important is it that FINRA follows the SEC's approach and publishes an enforcement manual of their own?" Wagner asked.
"It is very important that FINRA publishes this enforcement manual," responded Valerie Mirko, partner and leader of the securities regulation and litigation practice at Armstrong Teasdale in Washington. "The SEC's manual has been available publicly for going on 20 years."
"FINRA doesn't have one?" Wagner shot back.
"FINRA's will be made available publicly, which is a welcome change," Mirko said.
FINRA told ThinkAdvisor Thursday in an email: "We have long had extensive enforcement policies, procedures, guidance and best practices. Our aim is to provide a publicly available procedures manual."
Bill St. Louis. Courtesy photo
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