The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of the merger between NASD and NYSE Regulation is good news for investors, issuers and the industry.

“By approving this merger, the SEC helps ensure that America’s markets remain at the forefront of innovation in an increasingly competitive global environment,” said Marc Lackritz, president and CEO of the SIFMA.

“A single regulator, with a single rulebook and one set of enforcement procedures will reduce redundancy, improve efficiency and build a single, powerful regulator. These benefits will accrue to investors, firms and the markets themselves, creating a healthier, stronger financial services industry.”

SIFMA first proposed a regulatory merger of the NASD and NYSE Regulation in 2000. At the time, exchanges had just started discussing demutualization, a step that would make the for-profit exchanges the regulators of their competitors – a serious conflict of interest. By separating the regulatory arms of the exchanges, these conflicts are dramatically reduced, it stressed.