FINRA, the Securities Industry's Mandatory Arbiter, Shouldn't Be Allowed to Expand

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority describes itself as "an independent regulatory organization empowered by the federal government to ensure that America's 90 million investors are protected." Nothing could be further from the truth. A better description would be that the group, known as FINRA, is a trade organization that gives the securities industry a mechanism to avoid effective regulation by the federal government.