Florida outsider wins small-firm seat on Finra appeals board

Karen Fischer, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based compliance consultant, has won a small-firm seat on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.'s appeals board. She beat out David Sobel, general counsel at Abel/Noser Corp., for the spot on Finra's National Adjudicatory Council. Mr. Sobel was nominated by Finra's nominating committee. Ms. Fischer successfully petitioned member firms to get on the ballot as a challenger. The NAC reviews disciplinary decisions issued by Finra hearing panels and hears appeals. Her outsider status “may have had something to do with” the win, Ms. Fischer said. “The membership was very receptive” to her campaign, she added. “I hope I can work with Finra to help the investing public and get regulation on the right track.” Ms. Fischer “worked very, very hard to leverage” her position as an outsider, said Alan Davidson, founder of both Zeus Securities Inc. and the Independent Broker-Dealers Association Inc., who supported Ms. Fischer. Mr. Davidson holds the contested NAC seat; his term ends at year-end. Ms. Fischer will serve a three-year term beginning in January 2012. Small broker-dealers, who are upset with regulatory burdens and past Finra management, are “like the tea party — they don't want anyone who's been involved before” with Finra, said Mr. Sobel, who currently sits on the self-regulator's small-firm advisory board. Mr. Sobel also said he was disadvantaged by Finra rules that do not let a nominating-committee candidate contact member firms until after the 45-day period a potential challenger has to collect petitions. “I was not allowed to send anything out until there was [an officially declared] contested election,” Mr. Sobel said. So Ms. Fischer “had 45 days of beating me up until I could say something.” Both Mr. Davidson and Mr. Sobel think Finra should stop nominating small-firm candidates for NAC elections and allow anyone who gathers enough signatures on a petition to run. That's how Finra handles elections for small-firm seats on its board. Mr. Sobel also thinks Finra should shorten the voting period to two weeks, from 30 days, to minimize the constant stream of campaign messages to small brokerage firms.