Trump carrying out a “behind-the-scenes” war on regulation: NBF report

The U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on Monday announced that its board of governors has concluded the CEO search, and appointed Robert Cook as president and CEO, effective the second half of 2016.

Cook will succeed Richard Ketchum, who has served as chairman and CEO since 2009. The self-regulatory
organization intends to name a new chairman in the coming months.

Cook is currently a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. Prior to that, he was director of the trading and markets division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 2010 to 2013. Before his stint at the SEC, he was partner at Cleary Gottlieb.

“Robert has a deep understanding of the securities markets, and investors will greatly benefit from his broad regulatory expertise developed as director of the SEC’s division of trading and markets, where he led the organization in establishing and maintaining standards for fair, orderly and efficient markets,” says FINRA’s lead governor, Jack Brennan, former CEO of Vanguard Group, in a statement. “We thank Rick for his terrific leadership as FINRA’s chairman and CEO, and express our gratitude on behalf of all investors for his decades of service.”

The U.S. Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) issued a statement in support of Cook’s appointment.

“Robert is one of our nation’s leading securities lawyers and markets experts. He is an excellent choice to lead FINRA‎ at this important time and has demonstrated a deep commitment to investor protection during his prior leadership role at the SEC,” says Ira Hammerman, executive vice president and general counsel at SIFMA.

Photo copyright: surangaw/123RF