Ketchum '75 to lead Financial Industry Regulatory Authority

The February 19 Wall Street Journal reports that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority plans to name Richard Ketchum ’75 as its new chief executive, succeeding Mary Schapiro, who just became chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Funded by Wall Street firms, FINRA polices brokerage-industry conduct under the supervision of the SEC.

Ketchum, who has held senior regulatory roles at the SEC, is currently the chief executive of NYSE Regulation, Inc., which regulates conduct at the New York Stock Exchange. He helped boost enforcement there following a scandal in which floor traders were accused by the SEC in 2004 of improperly taking advantage of customer orders to earn profits for themselves. He also worked with Schapiro in the 2007 regulatory consolidation that combined the brokerage-supervision activities of the NYSE and National Association of Securities Dealers, FINRA’s predecessor.

Frank Zarb, who has worked with Ketchum and Schapiro and is now a managing director at a private equity firm, told the Journal that Ketchum and Schapiro will be able to work together in their new jobs to achieve “adequate and proper and balanced regulation.”

Ketchum was chosen by the 21-member board of FINRA, which includes representatives from the public and financial services industry, including small brokerage firms that constitute the bulk of the agency’s membership.