WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, today said he has been assured by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it will enhance its oversight of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) activities.  

The SEC committed to this action in response to a letter Boozman and Representative Ander Crenshaw (R-FL), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, sent in June asking the Commission to detail how it conducts oversight of FINRA.

The two chairmen, who head subcommittees with jurisdiction over the SEC, requested a response to a series of questions regarding the Commission’s supervision of FINRA, which has become a “unique quasi-governmental entity.”

SEC Chair Mary Jo White wrote in response that the Commission is “in the process of enhancing its FINRA oversight further as part of an internal reorganization, which will result in the creation of a specialized team dedicated to inspections of FINRA and other FINRA-related work.”

Boozman welcomed the SEC’s pledge to enhance its oversight of FINRA.

“I appreciate Chair White’s response that the SEC will commit to proper oversight of our financial markets and I look forward to continuing to work with her to achieve that goal,” Boozman said.

Click on the attached files below to read Boozman and Crenshaw’s letter and the SEC’s response.