WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) and Representative Ander Crenshaw (R-FL), the chairmen of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees’ Subcommittees on Financial Services and General Government, are calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to detail how the agency conducts oversight of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). 

The two chairmen, who head subcommittees with authority over the SEC, sent a letter to SEC Commissioner Mary Jo White requesting a response to a series of questions regarding the Commission’s oversight of FINRA, which has become a “unique quasi-governmental entity.”

"FINRA has evolved from a membership association primarily responsible for examining and enforcing industry norms into a hybrid entity that enforces securities law alongside the SEC. As a result, FINRA has become a unique quasi-governmental entity. While FINRA is subject to SEC oversight, it is unclear how much oversight the SEC conducts of FINRA," wrote Boozman and Crenshaw.

To read the letter in its entirety, click on the attached file below.