FINRA Vice Chairman Luparello Leaving for Law Firm

Luparello has been at FINRA and NASD,one of its predecessor organizations, for more than 16 years. His last day at FINRA will be October 7.

Luparello served as FINRA interim chief executive and was named vice chairman in 2009. He oversees FINRA’s regulatory operations, including enforcement, market regulation, member regulation and business solutions. Luparello was instrumental in creating the office of the whistleblower, and the office of fraud detection and market intelligence in 2009. His other accomplishments include leading the development and implementation of two market regulation technology systems, the Order Audit Trail System (OATS) and SONAR, which are used to monitor securities trading and detect insider trading.

Luparello joined NASD in 1996 as vice president in the office of disciplinary policy. In 1999, he became head of NASD’s market regulation department, where he was responsible for oversight of trading on the NASDAQ stock market, the American Stock Exchange, the over-the-counter equities market, and the corporate and municipal fixed-income markets.

Before joining FINRA, Luparello served in various capacities at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Steve has been at the heart of the work FINRA has done to protect investors for almost 16 years,” said Richard Ketchum, FINRA  chairman and CEO. “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. Steve’s leadership in helping FINRA respond to the challenges and changes in the markets has been paramount to FINRA fulfilling its mission of investor protection and market integrity.”

FINRA is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the U.S.