Following $84M loss, Finra board election commences

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. on Monday said three candidates will be squaring off for an open small-firm seat on the Finra board. The small-firm candidates are: Kevin Carreno, part owner and general counsel of International Assets Advisory LLC in Orlando; Stephen Kohn, president of Stephen A. Kohn & Associates Ltd. in Lakewood, Colo.; and Dock David Treece, a partner at Toledo, Ohio-based Treece Financial Services Corp. All three were able to collect signatures from 3% or more of the 4,059 small Finra-members firms, which are defined as having no more than 150 registered persons. All small-firm candidates must qualify for the Finra ballot by the petition process. The Finra Nominating Committee has chosen two other candidates to represent mid-sized and large firms. W. Dennis Ferguson, director of clearing at Sterne Agee & Leech Inc., was chosen to run for the open mid-sized seat, representing firms with 151 to 499 registered persons. Seth Waugh, chief executive at Deutsche Bank Americas, was picked as a large-firm candidate, representing firms with 500 or more registered persons. Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Waugh are running unopposed. Candidates will be soliciting supporters until Finra's annual meeting on August 13, when the final votes will be tallied. The campaign for the small-firm seat could heat up in the wake of Finra's recently announced $84 million loss, its pending fee hikes on member firms and a bevy of new regulatory requirements, including new suitability rules that began taking effect this week.