FINRA Promotes Michael Solomon to Executive Vice President of Examinations and Membership Application Program
May 13 2024 - 12:09PM
Business Wire
FINRA announced today that it has promoted Michael Solomon to
Executive Vice President of Examinations and Membership Application
Program, effective immediately. Solomon has taken on an expanded
leadership role since rejoining FINRA in 2022 as a Senior Vice
President and Head of Examinations. Solomon continues to report to
Greg Ruppert, Executive Vice President, Member Supervision.
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Michael Solomon (Photo: Business
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Solomon will continue to lead FINRA’s National Examination
Program, which was consolidated over the past 18 months to include
all exams conducted by FINRA. In that role, he is responsible for
overseeing approximately 750 examiners and managers and all aspects
of the program, including strategic direction and execution,
operations, continuous improvement, and key internal and external
relationships.
The Examinations program is a crucial component of FINRA’s
regulatory operations, and FINRA staff conduct more than 1,000
examinations a year to determine compliance with FINRA’s rules,
federal securities laws and regulations, and when applicable,
exchanges’ rules. Member firms are examined at least once every
four years and as often as annually, depending on the risk profile
of the firm.
“Regular and thorough examinations are critical to maintaining
strong investor protection and often uncover and remedy problems
before they can harm investors,” Ruppert said. “Michael's continued
leadership and experience, both as a regulator and in global
financial services firms, will serve him well as he brings his
vision and understanding of this evolving industry to our
Examinations team and Membership Application Program.”
“I look forward to continuing to utilize a risk-based approach
to our oversight and leading our talented teams dedicated to
identifying and sharing emerging trends and patterns that present
risks to the investing public, the broker-dealer industry and the
securities markets,” Solomon said.
Solomon will also continue to oversee the Membership Application
and Statutory Disqualification programs — responsibilities he took
on in 2023. These programs are essential aspects of FINRA’s
regulatory function and provide intelligence to other agencies and
regulators overseeing the broker-dealer community.
Before rejoining FINRA in 2022, Solomon was the General Counsel
and Chief Compliance Officer for Rockefeller Financial LLC. Before
that, Solomon spent seven years as the Senior Vice President and
Northeast Regional Director at FINRA, where he had responsibility
for the Examination and Surveillance Programs in the region and
oversaw a staff of 350 people.
Solomon also previously held senior legal and compliance roles
at several global financial services firms, including Jefferies,
UBS and Merrill Lynch. Solomon was also a trial counsel in the New
York Stock Exchange Enforcement Division and began his legal career
as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan where he
investigated and prosecuted violent street crime, narcotics
trafficking, fraud and organized crime.
About FINRA
FINRA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to investor
protection and market integrity. FINRA regulates one critical part
of the securities industry—member brokerage firms doing business in
the U.S. FINRA, overseen by the SEC, writes rules, examines for and
enforces compliance with FINRA rules and federal securities laws,
registers broker-dealer personnel and offers them education and
training, and informs the investing public. In addition, FINRA
provides surveillance and other regulatory services for equities
and options markets, as well as trade reporting and other industry
utilities. FINRA also administers a dispute resolution forum for
investors and brokerage firms and their registered employees. For
more information, visit www.finra.org.
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