Wall Street's self-policing organization has lost one of its top cops.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced on Tuesday that its vice chairman, Stephen Luparello, was joining the law firm WilmerHale in Washington. Mr. Luparello, who oversees Finra's regulatory and enforcement teams, will leave on Oct. 7.
“It has been the the job and the place of a lifetime,†Mr. Luparello said in an interview on Tuesday. “It's hard to leave the nest,†he said, while adding that he is leaving “Finra in the very capable hands of many colleagues who I know will continue to successfully carry out its regulatory mandate.â€
His departure follows several other personnel changes at Finra, a private nonprofit agency whose members include the roughly 4,500 brokerage firms it oversees. Finra's top lobbyist, Howard Schloss, stepped down this summer. And in May, Finra shuffled its legal staff, hiring Robert Colby, a former federal regulator, as its chief leg al officer. His position condensed the responsibilities of two departing senior lawyers: Marc Menchel and T. Grant Callery.
Mr. Luparello, who has spent more than 16 years at Finra, is the highest ranking official to move on. A longtime regulator who also serves stints at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Mr. Luparello joined Finra's predecessor, the National Association of Securities Dealers, in 1996. In 2009, he rose to vice chairman, which led him to oversee the group's enforcement program.
“He helped lead the organization through one of the most critical times for securities regulators and helped build and shape many of Finra's regulatory programs,†Richard Ketchum, the organization's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “â€Steve has been at the heart of the work Finra has done to protect investors for almost 16 years.â€
