Kovack re-elected to Finra board

Brian Kovack, co-founder and president of Kovack Securities, won re-election to the Finra board of governors Tuesday. Mr. Kovack will retain his mid-size firm seat for another three-year term after prevailing over Jay Lanstein, chief executive of Cantella & Co. Mr. Kovack was nominated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. board, while Mr. Lanstein was an insurgent candidate nominated by petition. Three years ago, Mr. Kovack was nominated by petition. In other election results, Paige Pierce, senior vice president of the Larimer Capital Corp., won a small-firm seat. Timothy Scheve, president and chief executive of Janney Montgomery Scott, won a large-firm seat. Also on Tuesday, the Finra board reappointed Jack Ehnes, chief executive of the California State Teachers' Retirement System, as a public governor. The Finra board is comprised of 24 members, 13 of whom are public governors and 10 of whom are industry governors. Finra chief executive Robert W. Cook also sits on the board. The Financial Services Institute backed Mr. Kovack in both of his board races, as well as Jim Nagengast, chief executive of Securities America Financial Corp., in his successful bid for a large-firm seat earlier this year. Another Finra board member, Amy Webber, president and chief executive of Cambridge Investment Research, also has ties to FSI, a trade group for independent broker-dealers and financial advisers. "With Brian, Amy Webber and Jim Nagengast together on the board, we are confident the perspective of Main Street investors will be heard as Finra moves forward," FSI president and chief executive Dale Brown said in a statement.