The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) this week highlighted new exam procedures and priority issues to test for compliance in 2014. They include conflicts of interest, compensation, suitability, market technology and market access control. The themes tying these together are operational and risk management, and signal an intention to move away from a more check-the-box approach, a goal shared with other regulators including the UK. The new approach will be embodied in a proposal for a Compliance Automated Risk Data System (CARDS), which will require firms to be able to regularly assemble stock-level data, so that FINRA will know who is trading what products. "We can't be happy having a 1980 exam oversight system, and the CARDS system will address this" said Rick Ketchum, CEO, Financial industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). FINRA wants "truly at its fingertips the ability to see market trends," said Susan Axelrod, executive vice president for regulatory operations
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