美國金融業監管局

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美國金融業監管局（FINRA）網站網址：http://www.finra.org

FINRA於2007年7月30日由美國證券商協會（NASD）與紐約證券交易所中有關會員監管、執行和仲裁的部門合併而成。

　　美國金融業監管局（The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority，簡稱FINRA）是美國最大的非政府的證券業自律監管機構，於2007年7月30日由美國證券商協會（NASD）與紐約證券交易所中有關會員監管、執行和仲裁的部門合併而成，它主要負責證券交易商於櫃臺交易市場的行為，以及投資銀行的運作，監管對象主要包括5100家經紀公司、17.3萬家分公司和66.5萬名註冊證券代表。其核心目標是加強投資者保護和市場誠信建設，通過高效監管，輔以技術服務，實現此目標。

　　FINRA將投資者教育作為投資者保護的最佳形式。FINRA採取媒體宣傳和召開研討會等多種形式，幫助投資者瞭解金融知識，熟悉基礎的投資工具。此外，FINRA接手原“NASD投資者教育基金”，更名為“FINRA投資者教育基金”，資助投資者教育研發及培訓項目。

In the United States, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a self-regulatory organization (SRO) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, successor to the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD).

FINRA is responsible for regulatory oversight of all securities firms that do business with the public; professional training, testing and licensing of registered persons; arbitration and mediation; market regulation by contract for The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc., the American Stock Exchange LLC, and the International Securities Exchange, LLC; and industry utilities, such as Trade Reporting Facilities and other over-the-counter operations.

FINRA was formed by a consolidation of the enforcement arm of the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Regulation, Inc., and the NASD. The merger was approved by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 26, 2007.^[1]

The opinion of NASD is that the regulatory consolidation will "increase efficient, effective, and consistent regulation of securities firms, provide cost savings to securities firms of all sizes, and strengthen investor protection and market integrity." According to NASD, additional benefits are to "streamline the broker-dealer regulatory system, combine technologies, and permit the establishment of a single set of rules and a single set of examiners with complementary areas of expertise within a single SRO."^[2]

With respect to the regulatory agency merger, SEC Chairman Chris Cox said, "The consolidation of NASD's and NYSE's member firm regulatory functions is an important step toward making our self-regulatory system not only more efficient, but more effective in protecting investors. The Commission will work closely with FINRA to eliminate unnecessarily duplicative regulation, including consolidating and strengthening what until have now been two different member rulebooks and two different enforcement systems."^[3]

The NASD was founded in 1939, in response to the 1938 Maloney Act amendments to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In 1971, NASD launched a new computerized stock trading system called the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) stock market. The NASDAQ and AMEX stock exchanges merged in 1998. Two years later, the NASDAQ underwent a major recapitalization and became an independent entity from NASD. In July 2007, the SEC approved the formation of a new SRO to be a successor to NASD. The NASD and the member regulation, enforcement and arbitration functions of the New York Stock Exchange were then consolidated into the newly created Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). See SEC Release No. 34-56145

The NASD Board of Governors consists of two staff members (the CEO and the President of one of NASD's divisions), seven individuals representing the industry, seven more individuals representing the industry, and two individuals categorized as "non-public" but also representing the industry. ^[4]

NASD regulates trading in equities, corporate bonds, securities futures, and options, with authority over the activities of more than 5,100 brokerage firms, approximately 173,000 branch offices, and more than 676,000 registered securities representatives. All firms dealing in securities that are not regulated by another SRO, such as by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board ("MSRB"), are required to be member firms of the NASD.

NASD licenses individuals and admits firms to the industry, writes rules to govern their behavior, examines them for regulatory compliance, and is sanctioned by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") to discipline registered representatives and member firms that fail to comply with federal securities laws and NASD's rules and regulations. It provides education and qualification examinations to industry professionals. It also sells outsourced regulatory products and services to a number of stock markets and exchanges (e.g. American Stock Exchange ("AMEX") and the International Securities Exchange ("ISE").

NASD founded the NASDAQ ("National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations") stock market in 1971. In 2006, NASD demutualized from NASDAQ by selling its ownership interest.

NASD has a staff of nearly 3,000 and an annual budget of more than $500 million. ^[5] The NASD is funded primarily by assessments of member firms' registered representatives and applicants, annual fees paid by members, and by fines that it levies. The annual fee that each member pays includes a basic membership fee, an assessment based on gross income, a fee for each principal and registered representative, and charge for each branch office.

In recent years, the securities market has become increasingly "retail"; with a majority of Americans owning stock through their employers and personal investing. Being an industry organization, the NASD has been accused of turning a blind eye to broker/dealers' biggest abuses. Some feel that while larger problems have gone unaddressed, the NASD has pursued minor rule violations. As a result of this, various groups feel that investors continue to lose money through various broker/dealer scams which should have been previously addressed.[citation needed]

After several years of punitive enforcement actions, FINRA has reduced the number of fines in excess of $1 million. According to a study by Deborah G. Heilizer and Brian L. Rubin, both partners in Washington with Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, regulators with NASD and NYSE (now collectively known as FINRA) Regulation obtained fines of over $1 million in 35 actions taken in 2005. But in 2006, that number dropped to 19. And the number of enforcement actions over $5 million also fell. In 2005, there were seven such actions as opposed to three in 2006. According to the written report, the “data suggest that securities regulators may have retrenched their efforts to regulate through the use of novel theories.”^[6]

The NASD operates the nation's largest arbitration forum for the resolution of disputes between customers and member firms, as well as between brokerage firm employees and their firms. Virtually all agreements between investors and their stockbrokers include mandatory arbitration agreements, whereby investors (and the brokerage firms) waive their right to trial in a court of law. Although the fairness of such mandatory arbitration clauses has been called into question, U.S. courts have consistently found them to be lawful.

As of June 2005, the pool of arbitrators consisted of 2,700 individuals classified by the NASD as industry panelists and 3,700 individuals classified as non-industry panelists.

In 1987, in Shearson/American Express v. McMahon, the United States Supreme Court ruled that account forms signed by customers requiring arbitration for disputes were enforceable contracts. Brokerage firms now require all customers to sign such documents, requiring binding arbitration.

For disputes between customers and member firms, the panel that decides the case consists of three arbitrators, one industry panelist and two non-industry panelists. For disputes between an employee and member firms, all three arbitrators are industry panelists. For a given case, the two sides are provided separate lists by NASD of local, available arbitrators, from which they chose. If one side rejects all listed arbitrators, NASD names the arbitrators who will serve; these can be rejected only for biases, misclassification, conflicts, or undisclosed material information, and biases or conflicts must be identified prior to the beginning of hearings. For an overview of the Securities Arbitration process, see Introduction to Securities Arbitration.

According to NASD, there were 6,074 cases for arbitration filed in 2005, a decrease from the peak of 8,945 cases filed in 2003. The average time to complete a case has risen from 10.5 months in 1995 to 14.3 months in 2005, a decrease from 2004 when it was 15.4 months. The percentage of cases where customers are awarded damages has fallen from slightly above 50% in the 2000-2002 period to slightly above 40% in 2005. The NASD rates any positive award to a customer as a win for the customer regardless of the magnitude of losses or legal fees.^[7]

NASD rules do not require parties to be represented by attorneys. A party may appear pro se, or be represented by a non-attorney in arbitration. However, representation by a non-attorney is not advised since this may be the unauthorized practice of law. ^[8] Brokerage firms routinely hire attorneys, so a customer who does not can be at a serious disadvantage. One organization whose members specialize in representing customers against brokerage firms in NASD and NYSE arbitration is the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association ("PIABA").

In June 2006, Lewis D. Lowenfels, one of two partners at the New York law firm of Tolins & Lowenfels, and co-author of the looseleaf treatise Bromberg and Lowenfels on Securities Fraud and Commodities Fraud, 2d said of the NASD arbitration process: "What started out as a relatively swift and economical process for a public customer claimant to seek justice has evolved into a costly extended adversarial proceeding dominated by trial lawyers and the usual litigation tactics." ^[7]

　　FINRA認識到網路具有信息公開、查詢便捷、傳播廣泛等特點，充分利用網路平臺開展投資者教育。FINRA網站關於投資者教育信息主要有三級欄目：一級欄目為“投資者信息”；二級欄目為“投資者警示”、“投資者選擇”、“投資者保護”、“市場與交易”、“明智投資”、“工具與計算”等欄目；三級欄目為二級欄目的詳細內容。從欄目設置可以看出，FINRA投資者教育的重點是向投資者提供豐富的信息，幫助他們做到明白投資、規避風險。

　　FINRA網站設置了“投資者警示”欄目，密切跟蹤市場情況，就市場中出現的各種涉嫌違規、違法行為發佈公告，提醒投資者不要上當受騙，指導投資者識別此類風險。目前，FINRA網站“投資者警示”欄目公佈了NASD自2001年11月1日以來發佈的39份投資者警示函，以及其它相關機構發佈的20份投資者警示函。FINRA還通過“投資者選擇”、“明智投資”等欄目，介紹各種金融產品特性、提醒投資者決策時應考慮的因素和註意事項等，協助投資者做出符合自身資產狀況、投資理念、理財需求的投資決策。“投資者保護”欄目下，FINRA向投資者介紹中介機構、提供投訴渠道和獲取投訴援助資金方面的信息等。“市場與交易”欄目介紹了市場情況及交易的操作程式。“工具與計算”欄目提供了金融分析工具和虛擬投資游戲，幫助投資者掌握基本投資技能。另外，FINRA網站提供電子金融詞典，供投資者查閱。