Office of the Chief Economist
The Office of the Chief Economist was created in 2013 to conduct research and analysis in support of FINRA’s rulemaking and policy agendas. The Office works closely with the Office of General Counsel and other departments in order to assess the economic implications of policies and programs in new and existing rulemaking. In order to advance that effort, the Office is responsible for gathering and analyzing data on securities firms and markets.
The Office of the Chief Economist works to achieve its objective through a variety of activities. These include conducting sophisticated economic and statistical analyses related to FINRA’s mission, working with outside experts in academia and industry to enhance FINRA’s foundation of knowledge, conducting special studies and evaluations, and participating in in-house training of staff on matters related to financial markets, market microstructure, and financial intermediation.
The Office of the Chief Economist also works collaboratively with a range of departments across FINRA to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of FINRA’s regulatory and investor education programs.
Reports
Retrospective Rule Review
- Outside Business Activities and Private Securities Transactions: Request for Comment
- Payments for Market Making Rule: Request for Comment
Working Papers
Office of the Chief Economist working papers present findings of staff research and analysis in support of FINRA's rulemaking and policy agendas. The views expressed in the working papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of FINRA or of the authors' FINRA staff colleagues.
- OCE Working Paper: The Selection of Claims in Securities Arbitration for Settlement: A Text-Based Analysis (December 2021)
- Institutional Order Handling and Broker-Affiliated Trading Venues (January 2019)
- (Updated: February 22, 2019) (PDF 1.1 MB)
- (PDF 330 KB)
- Do Investors Have Valuable Information About Brokers? (August 2015)
- (PDF 1.01 MB)
- (PDF 66.86 KB)
Research Notes
Office of the Chief Economist research notes are concise analyses intended to stimulate and augment timely policy debates related to FINRA’s mission.
- (June 2017) (PDF 481 KB)
- (December 2015) (PDF 701 KB)
News Releases
- FINRA Issues Research on Securitized-Asset Liquidity (6/8/17)
- Corporate Bond Liquidity Healthy by Most Measures: FINRA Research (12/10/15)
- FINRA Issues Public Statement, Framework Regarding FINRA's Approach to Economic Impact Assessment for Proposed Rulemaking (9/19/13)
- Jonathan S. Sokobin Named FINRA's Chief Economist (4/30/13)