Fundsters who keep one eye on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) may want to take a look at Susanne Craig's Thursday article in the Wall Street Journal. Craig reports that Susan Merrill, head of enforcement at Finra, is leaving the B-D regulator. Yet sources told the WSJ that Merrill has not yet set a departure date or lined up another post. It is also not known who will replace her at Finra.

Merrill previously worked in the New York Stock Exchange's regulation division and joined Finra when it merged with the NYSE's regulatory arm in 2007. SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) chair Mary Shapiro, who previously ran Finra, tapped Merrill as enforcement chief.

The WSJ offers no reason for Merrill's move, though the paper does note that Merrill's Finra enforcement team brought fewer enforcement actions than previous ones: enforcement fines dropped from $148.5 million in 2005 to $50 million in 2009, and disciplinary actions filed dropped from 1,399 in 2005 to 1,158 in 2009. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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