 No organization
pressed harder for a consolidation of broker-dealer regulation than
the Securities Industry Association, now the Securities Industry
& Financial Markets Association (Sifma). Now that the merger of
self-regulatory organizations (SROs) NASD and NYSE Regulation is
near, Sifma continues to raise some issues at the margins, as laid
out in testimony May 17 to a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban
Affairs subcommittee by Sifma president and CEO Marc Lackritz,
excerpted here.
Sifma supports the single SRO because we believe it is a win-win
situation for investors and market participants. A single SRO will
provide for more effective investor protection at the same time
that it will ensure more efficient regulation for market
participants. Importantly, the single SRO will not diminish the
quality or vigor of regulatory oversight of the markets. As such,
we believe the single SRO will be a significant step toward
improving the global competitiveness of U.S. capital markets.
Nonetheless, we believe the single SRO can be strengthened even
more. A comprehensive SRO decisionmaking process, which includes
expert practitioners, will ensure that regulation deals effectively
with practical business considerations. In addition, the formation
of a single SRO provides an historic opportunity to reassess
traditional regulatory approaches so that U.S. markets remain
globally competitive. Achieving this goal, we believe, will require
a more textured approach to regulation, a sound regulatory budget
and continued SEC oversight. |
