The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) today celebrated NASD member firms’ approval of the NASD/NYSE regulatory consolidation.
“This is a pivotal victory which will deliver a more effective and efficient regulatory environment – a win for investors and for the financial industry,” said Marc Lackritz, co-CEO of SIFMA. “Firms of all shapes and sizes will reap the benefits of being overseen by a single regulator.”
“The most recent figures available show that compliance costs have doubled in a three year period, to more than $25 billion in 2005, up from $13 billion in 2002,” said Micah Green, co-CEO of SIFMA. “A single regulator, with one rulebook, one set of procedures and one set of examinations will eliminate regulatory confusion and reduce wasteful redundancy.”
SIFMA has been a vocal advocate of a single self-regulatory organization since 2000. After NASD and NYSE Regulation announced the consolidation proposal in December of 2006, some of SIFMA’s individual sub-committees, including the Independent Firms Committee, Regional Firms Committee and Small Firms Committee endorsed the proposal, and subsequently played a vocal role in educating their peers about the deal.
