July 30, 2010
As a Registered Representative of FINRA the current compliance guidelines and regulations are extremely ample. In the office from which I operate, we employ a full time ASO (Agency Supervisory Officer) who regulates the actions and communications of all of the Registered Representatives within our office. This officer has his hands full on a daily basis approving registered product applications, monitoring client communications including email, regular mail, and text messaging, as well as the day to day compliance issues that come accross his desk daily. He travels to oversee the actions of RRs from 2 states as governed by FINRA and is greeted each day by a mountain of paperwork. Without knowing exactly what type of income he makes, I can only assume that based on his workload, he does not come cheap. More regulation can only mean more day to day compliance duties, which will end up costing the firm more money. I can only imagine that these costs will then be passed on to the consumer. Simply put: We are regulated enough and more regulation could cause a reverse effect on our ability to serve our clients' best interests.