Finra board challengers gain support

A slate of challengers for three small-firm seats on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. board have gathered enough support to seek a spot on the ballot for the upcoming board election. The outside candidates have gathered the required 432 signatures from small broker-dealers to apply for their names on the ballot. The election is slated for August 2 during Finra's annual meeting. The challengers for the small-firm seats will take on three candidates already picked by a Finra nominating committee. Before being added to the ballot, the signatures must be certified by Finra. The challengers are Joel Blumenschein, president of Freedom Investors Corp., Jed Bandes, president of Mutual Trust Company of America Securities Inc., and Ken Norensberg, chief executive of Four Points Capital Partners LLC. "We just went over the [432 signature] mark yesterday," said John Busacca, a co-founder of the Securities Industry Professional Association, which is orchestrating the election challenge. The Finra nominating committee candidates are: Lisa Roth, chief executive of Keystone Capital Corp.; Donald Steel, president of Planned Investment Co. Inc., and Mari Buechner, chief executive of Coordinated Capital Securities Inc. Mr. Busacca said the positive response from executives of member firms, who must sign their names to a petition to get outside candidates on the ballot, reflects continued concern over growing regulatory burdens. The challengers say the nominating committee candidates aren't independent enough to challenge Finra management. One of the nominating committee candidates disputes that. "The way to get things done is to get inside and make some noise, and that's what I've done," said Ms. Roth, chairwoman of Finra's small-firm advisory board.