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The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has issued a request for comment pertaining to potential changes to BrokerCheck, its online system of broker information available to the general public.  The changes will include the addition of new data as suggested by the SEC.  FINRA is considering adding BrokerCheck features such as the cause and comments associated with a broker’s termination and broker scores on industry exams.

Don't expect a fiduciary standard for broker-dealers (B-Ds) before late July of this year, more than a year after passage of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law requiring such a standard.

What's the hold-up? Various federal agencies are haggling over the details of the new fiduciary standard, which will apply to investment advisors, as well, says Jennifer B. McHugh, senior advisor to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Mary L. Schapiro.

Michael Oxley, the former Republican congressman from Ohio best known for co-authoring the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, has registered as a lobbyist for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). His goal, as stated on his registration form: to work on the “harmonization of regulation of broker-dealers and investment advisors.”

Translation: to promote a self-regulatory organization (SRO) for investment advisors.