Thomas Gira, head of Finra market regulation, dead at 58

Thomas Gira, executive vice president of market regulation and transparency services at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., passed away on Saturday, June 20, at the age of 58, Finra said.

“Tom leaves behind an extensive and exemplary legacy of accomplishment over the course of his tremendous career in the securities industry, including nearly three decades at Finra. He was well known for his expertise in securities markets regulation, built over the course of his lifetime commitment to protecting investors and the integrity of markets," Robert Cook, Finra's president and CEO, said in a statement.

Under Gira’s leadership, Finra’s market regulation department grew to conduct cross-market surveillance of all U.S. equities markets and nearly half of U.S. options markets. The department also performs trading compliance examinations of Finra-registered firms and provides regulatory services to U.S. exchanges.

More recently, Finra said, Gira assumed leadership of the regulator’s transparency services department, which monitors reporting of transactions in Treasury securities through Finra’s Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine.

Before joining Finra in 1992, Gira was an associate general counsel of the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. Prior to that, he was branch chief for options and derivative products regulation within the SEC’s division of market regulation.