B-D firms get merger payout

Brokerage firms are receiving the $35,000 that was promised upon completion of the merger between NASD and the NYSE's regulatory unit. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority spokesman Herb Perone said the checks were mailed last Thursday. Member firms had been hoping to receive the money earlier this summer, but the Securities and Exchange Commission only approved the needed NASD bylaw changes late last month. “Better late than never,” said Lisa Roth, chairman of the National Association of Independent Broker/Dealers in San Diego, who received her own check today. The payments were conditioned on NASD member firms approving the bylaw changes, which occurred in January. Critics of the merger called the offer of money a bribe. One critic, Richard Goble, president of the Financial Industry Association in Lakewood, Fla., which represents smaller dealers, said he is asking his members to donate 10% of the money to the FIA. He said the FIA's activism spurred the NASD to offer the $35,000 inducement in the first place.