The U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) named five new governors to its board at its annual meeting in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
Firms elected three governors, one representative each for small, mid-sized, and large firms. The three elected governors are John Thiel, head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management; Joe Romano, president of Romano Wealth Management; and, Brian Kovack, president & co-founder, Kovack Securities, Inc.
In addition FINRA appointed a new public governor, Randal Quarles, managing partner and co-founder of The Cynosure Group, and a new industry governor, Kathleen Murphy, president of Personal Investing, a Fidelity Investments company.
FINRA is overseen by a 24-person board, with 13 seats held by public governors, 10 by industry governors. FINRA’s CEO has the remaining seat. Governors are appointed or elected to three-year terms and may not serve more than two consecutive terms.