FSI adds two indie broker-dealer executives to board

One of the biggest cheerleaders for independent broker-dealers in Washington is adding two senior executives from the industry to its board.

One of the biggest cheerleaders for independent broker-dealers in Washington is adding two senior executives from the industry to its board.
Starting Jan. 1, the Financial Services Institute’s 16-member board will include Scott Curtis, president of Raymond James Financial Services Inc., and Amy Webber, president of Cambridge Investment Research Inc., the advocacy group said in a statement Thursday.
Mr. Curtis has been at Raymond James for a decade, while Ms. Webber is a 15-year Cambridge veteran.
The move will give executives at two of the largest independent brokerage companies an even more prominent voice in the industry’s united front on regulatory issues next year. Those issues are likely to include the debate about harmonizing the divergent regulations for broker-dealers and advisers, as well as regulations affecting social media, the tax status of independent contractors and proposals surrounding compensation disclosure.
“These advocacy organizations are very important,” said Mr. Curtis, speaking also of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, which represents large brokerages. Chet Helck, another senior Raymond James executive, recently served as chairman of that group. “There’s always room to continue work on educating regulators so they understand the details of the issues that we as an industry are working through,” Mr. Curtis said.
Other FSI board members include executives from LPL Financial, the largest independent broker-dealer, as well as Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. and Cetera Financial Group Inc.
The FSI, founded in 2004, has taken an active role in representing smaller broker-dealers’ interests before the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as Wall Street’s industry-funded regulator, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. Its members include 100 financial services companies and 35,000 advisers.
The FSI has long pushed for the SEC to harmonize broker-dealer and investment adviser rules as part of its consideration to impose a uniform fiduciary standard for retail investment advice. It also has fought a Labor Department proposal that members believe would prohibit advisers from earning commissions for retirement account services.