PODCAST
Making Your Voice Heard Through FINRA Member Engagement
As a self-regulatory organization, engagement with member firms is vital to FINRA’s success. On this episode, we highlight engagement opportunities, provide insight into how FINRA is listening and taking action on what we're hearing, and encourage even more listeners to get actively involved in FINRA's outreach.
FINRA Senior Vice President Kayte Toczylowski is joined by two current FINRA regional committee members: Serving on FINRA's Midwest regional committee, Margaret Dubil, Director of Surveillance for Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, and Stifel Independent Advisors; and serving on the New York regional committee, Peter Garcia, Head of Business Development and Controls at Rabobank and Officer of Rabo Securities USA, Rabobank's U.S. broker- dealer. The two provide firsthand experience on engaging with FINRA.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
FINRA Crypto and Blockchain Education Program
Blog Post: FINRA Forward’s Rule Modernization—An Update
Blog Post: FINRA Forward Initiatives to Support Members, Markets and the Investors They Serve
2025 Involvement and Election Process Overview
Listen and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Below is a transcript of the episode. Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human editors and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print.
FULL TRANSCRIPT
00:00 – 00:29
Margherita Beale: Engagement is a two-way street—FINRA doesn't just regulate, we actively collaborate with member firms. On this episode of FINRA Unscripted, we're joined by two FINRA Regional Committee members to discuss how FINRA listens to industry feedback and takes action on what we're hearing. Our guests will share firsthand experiences with FINRA, discuss how member feedback drives real change, and offer advice for firms looking to participate more actively. I'm your host, Margherita Beale, and this is FINRA Unscripted.
00:39 – 00:44
Margherita Beale: Here to lead today’s discussion is Kayte Toczylowski, FINRA Senior Vice President. Kayte, over to you.
00:45 – 02:04
Kayte Toczylowski: Thank you. As a self-regulatory organization, engagement with member firms is critical to our success. I am so excited for today's conversation, which will highlight these engagement opportunities, provide insight into how FINRA is listening and taking action on what we're hearing, and finally, encourage even more listeners to get actively involved in FINRA's outreach.
Joining me today are two current FINRA Regional Committee members who will provide firsthand experience on engaging with FINRA. First, serving on FINRA's Midwest Regional Committee, we have Margaret Dubil, Director of Surveillance for Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, and Stifel Independent Advisors. And serving on the New York Regional Committee, Peter Garcia, Head of Business Development and Controls at Rabobank, and Officer of Rabo Securities USA, Rabobank's US broker- dealer.
Margaret and Peter, thank you for speaking with us today. To get us started, let's hear a bit more about your firm and your role, including your experience working in the industry and how your perspective on regulation and compliance have evolved over time. Margaret, let's start with you.
02:05 – 04:02
Margaret Dubil: Kayte, thanks so much for having me today. So, as you mentioned, I'm the Director of Surveillance at Stifel. I have been in the industry, gosh, since 1996. And I've held a number of different roles. I've been in sales roles, I've been in supervision roles, I've been in a few different roles within compliance. So, while I'm at Stifel, we are a diversified large broker-dealer. We are involved in investment banking, retail distribution. We do have an independent channel, as you mentioned, with Stifel Investment Advisors.
And I would say my evolution around the appreciation of regulation has really grown over the years. When I first started in the industry, I didn't know enough to really know what all I didn't know. I knew that there were regulations, and to me it was sort of the “cops,” and FINRA, at the time, the NASD. They were really viewed as the cops. They were here to sort of get you when you do something bad. And over the years, I've really realized the importance of the self-regulatory component to that where, know, FINRA and our other regulators are certainly not what I originally thought that they were, that they're very much a partner to the industry to really protect our firms, to protect our clients. And more than that, to achieve a goal that I think all of us individually are trying to do, which is really to ensure protection of investors and protect the integrity of our markets.
So, I think what the key component to the shift in really my mindset was working with FINRA and getting to know FINRA. You know, when you don't know somebody, it's easy for them to be the boogeyman or it's easy for them to be something that you don't understand. And those of us that have compliance roles within the industry, I think are quite sensitive to that misunderstanding. You know, we're not necessarily the boogeymen, but at times within the industry we get portrayed as that. So, I think that's the piece that's really evolved for me, is developing an understanding of just how thoughtful FINRA is and how much FINRA really wants to play a partnership with us. And that requires not just FINRA's openness, but it requires us to do the same.
04:03 – 04:18
Kayte Toczylowski: Thanks, Margaret. That is quite the evolution and journey that you've had through compliance and the understanding of regulation. I'm looking forward to digging in a little bit more to that change and evolution. But before we do, Peter, can you share a bit more about your role and your experience?
04:19 – 05:47
Peter Garcia: No, absolutely. And thank you, Kayte, for the invitation to join this conversation. Like you mentioned, I work at Rabobank, and we service on the food and ag space. So, if you think of whether it's farmers or these large food processing companies or even energy transition firms, that's what we deal with. So, I deal with swap dealer activities through the bank and then, of course, through the broker-dealer with the capital markets and M&A activities.
So, I'm going to say right now, I'm still a baby in the industry. I initially wanted to, cause I met some folks, wanted to work at Bear Stearns at one point, but I graduated in 2009 and there was no Bear Stearns at that time. And so, I started in sales, dealing with municipal bonds. And, at least at the time, I didn't know anything about compliance. So eventually I joined operations and compliance and worked in different firms, took a pause and went to law school at one point. It kind of evolved. I kind of got exposure to different areas and maybe, to complement Margaret, because I could always talk about the industry side, especially since I work now in the industry again. But at one point I did work at FINRA too. So, I got to see from the other side, just within the organization, how we, like you do, Kayte, really work with the member firms, whether it's even an examination or just through outreach, you know, how we can, let's say, do things better from a regulator, know, regulator standpoint. So, I've seen it from that side and the inside, and I still see it from the outside, you know, the cooperation, the willingness to listen and then work as partners.
05:48 – 06:31
Kayte Toczylowski: That's great. Thank you, Peter. And you've both had varying different experiences in your compliance and regulation journey. So, I'm really excited to dig in a little bit more. Let's start with how you would categorize your experience engaging with FINRA. As I mentioned, you both currently serve on FINRA's Regional Committees. And so, I would love to hear a little bit more of your experiences there and maybe any other opportunities for engagement and dialogue that you have found the most valuable. And Peter, why don't we stick with you and then we'll go over to Margaret.
06:23 – 07:53
Peter Garcia: Sure, yes. So, this is my first year serving in the New York Regional Committee and it's been really rewarding. Kind of like what we just touched upon and like that I was just mentioning too, that firm engagement opportunity. It's been great where we've had our in-person conversations and Kayte, with you and your team bringing up various topics and issues that are coming up from, let's say, member firms’ engagement or from the committee's members ourselves that we want to have a further dialogue on, we kind of go through all those issues. And again, the theme that we and I think at least I have experiences, the openness to listen to, let's say, our concerns or ideas and really move them forward.
So, I've seen that. I've seen that from like the very first meeting, which still sticks with me, where there was a lot of opinions on the residential supervisory location rules. And I think from you, the team, especially, I think, and I forget the individual's person's name, but someone who in FINRA was instrumental for that rule was there really listening and saying, look, we want to hear this feedback and we're working toward actually refining these rules. Because obviously from FINRA’s standpoint, you're aiming to protect investors, but there's always opportunities to tailor the rules that makes more sense to achieve that goal. But at the same time, it's not putting a burden on the firm.
I thought that was really productive and helpful and I see through the committee and also outside, which we could always talk about outside the committee, there's various forms to kind of have that conversation and see how we can work together again.
07:54 – 08:08
Kayte Toczylowski: Thanks, Peter. We would love to engage more on the other experiences to have dialogue with FINRA outside of the committees. But first, Margaret, can you share a bit about your experience and anything else that's worked really well for you to have an open dialogue with FINRA?
08:09 – 10:46
Margaret Dubil: Sure. My industry giveback to FINRA started many years ago when I became a FINRA arbitrator. And I did so because I wanted to see that process. And as somebody observing that process, I began to see a side of FINRA that I wasn't really aware of. And that side was so thoughtful and so committed to our industry that it made me want to become more involved. I had an opportunity to become involved from a content writing standpoint. And I took that opportunity and I still participate in that. And through that opportunity, I really saw how thoughtful FINRA is with the entrance exams to our industry and really, just how hard FINRA works to get that right. And it impressed me so much that I wanted to continue to do more for FINRA and to continue to do more to bring in voices from our industry. And that's how I got involved in the Regional Committee.
And it's my first year serving. I've been very impressed with how open FINRA has been to receiving our feedback and just the topics that we discussed in a recent regional meeting. We were discussing the seasoning period, when somebody's not successful passing a licensing exam. And the discussion was so thoughtful and really spoke to something that I don't know that our broker deals really get to see. It was how do we provide this access? It wasn't, how do we eliminate this? How do we put a barrier here? How do we make this harder to do? It was really, how do we provide more opportunities for our industry to grow? How do we provide more opportunities for people to come into our industry? And I think that's just such a thoughtful aspect to FINRA that I really, you don't always get a chance.
A lot of times, at a broker-dealer, you engage with FINRA by way of a sales practice exam or by way of enforcement. You're a little late to see some of the true thoughtful builds that goes into it. But the conversations that we've had around some of the rule modernization proposals and that seasoning period when somebody is not successful with an exam, speaks to really how thoughtful FINRA is in the future that we're trying to build. And I don't think we can do that without having voices from our industry participating in that. Just being able to sit in a room and talk about why, do we have some of these things, the seasoning period when somebody's not successful with an exam, to better understand why we had that was really meaningful. And I don't know that that message always makes its way, as far as some of the broker-dealers. And then that really helps us understand what we can be doing to strengthen that place. I found the conversation we had was really thoughtful. And at the end, when we delivered recommendations, I really felt heard and that FINRA was going to take that information and take it to the right place. And I look forward to seeing the change that comes as a result of that.
10:47 – 11:11
Kayte Toczylowski: That's a great experience that you shared, really that listening-in-action and feeling heard in the conversation is so important. I'd like to take that a step further and ask each of you to share a time when you provided feedback to FINRA and then saw that input results in a change. Do either of you have an experience you can share in that regard?
11:12 – 13:27
Margaret Dubil: I would refer back to the content committee that I work on, and I realized that, you know, this maybe doesn't connect with everybody, but if you'd asked me 30 years ago, Margaret, how does the Series 7 get written? I would have told you that there's some guy sitting in Rockville writing questions, like Professor Angel, you know, as a side gig, is writing questions for the Series 7. And, you know, that's how these get written. I was so stunned to realize that it’s industry employees who are there spending their time writing these questions. And one of the things that really struck me was an exercise that we did where we went through questions in the exam, and we were really looking for questions that may propose challenges to individuals who, English is a second language for them. And the thoughtfulness in that, again, it wasn't, how do we make this harder? How do we make this more of an obstacle? It really was, how do we break down some of these and how do we make these exams more appealing or more accessible to people that are joining our industry so that our industry can grow?
And in that meeting, I really felt like FINRA could have taken the approach that you need to have a really strong, robust working-knowledge and we're not going to be anywhere near accommodative for individuals who have English as a second language. But in that meeting, it was so clear to us that this was a focus of FINRA, and we were going to get this right, and we were really going to do it in a meaningful, thoughtful way. And by the time we concluded that meeting in a few days, we had gone through the entire test bank and had really put in a lot of industry feedback into correcting questions and making sure that we were looking at the jargon that we're using and the acronyms and remembering that, while it might make sense to somebody, even in some of the earlier parts of our industry, in the earlier parts of our careers, some of our industry jargon like “dead cat bounce,” that's not something that's relevant to a lot of people outside of our industry in any real way. And it certainly might be confusing to somebody taking a test where they're already kind of struggling a little bit with the language on it.
And it was just so refreshing. And I felt like we really had made impact for those test takers to be a part of that. Now, I get that that's one small cog in the bigger FINRA picture. But the benefit to a lot of people is really there. And it was very heartwarming to see that.
13:28 – 14:55
Peter Garcia: Yeah, if I may maybe add on to it I'll kind of mention something that's kind of prior to me working at FINRA and then from my experience from then afterward is before and maybe there's like other firms before maybe working at FINRA, my interaction with FINRA would be regulatory examinations and it was always positive, as in we might receive potential findings and observations and we can have a constructive conversation on whether that makes sense or not. And then some findings are removed. But that was the bulk of the conversation or interaction, engagement with FINRA.
But while working at FINRA and then especially afterward, including being in this Regional Committee, you just see that there's a lot more opportunities for that engagement. It doesn't need to be just a regulatory examination. We can have a conversation about the rules or, Margaret, like you're mentioning, how tests are being formed and the questions and overall content. And I think that's great. That's why I keep mentioning more on partnership, because it really is. FINRA is aiming to supervise the activities in this industry. And at the same time, we are participating in that industry and we're working together to make sure we can achieve the same goal. Because likewise, whether it's me or Margaret and our firm, we want to make sure we're compliant in our reps and others are treating the customers properly and at the same time, FINRA wants to make sure we're doing exactly the same. And so, I would take it that way. That's been the experience afterward that I've explored that is just beyond regulatory examinations. There's just more we can work together and engage on.
14:56 – 15:14
Kayte Toczylowski: That's such a great perspective, Peter. For those that are listening that aren't sure of what those channels or mechanisms are, maybe they haven't had an opportunity or experience to engage with FINRA outside of their examination, what advice would you give them? What's an easy way in to have a conversation?
15:15 – 16:07
Peter Garcia: I definitely know this from working with you and others within FINRA. One of the things I love about FINRA as an organization is that everyone's approachable. So, Kayte, you may not be dealing with member supervision and regulatory examinations, but I know if we met at a conference and I have a question, I can bug you and you can probably help, or you'll just guide me to the right direction of the right team to help me with that.
And so, I think there's just any channel. It could be meeting someone at the conference that works at FINRA. It could be you see a LinkedIn post and you like the content and usually it's probably gonna be you because you're very active, Kayte, on LinkedIn, or it can be obviously like your risk monitoring team or your director or managers, which again, I think being in the inside and kind of now being in the industry again, everyone's always been supportive, helpful and kind of guiding you into the right direction if they can't help you.
16:08 – 16:39
Kayte Toczylowski: I've heard in my travels and conversations with member firms, some do have a bit of a fear that if they have a conversation with FINRA, that information will immediately result in an examination, or there is a bit of a resistance in having those proactive conversations with FINRA. Both of you are sharing very different experiences. But what would you say if a member firm shared that resistance to having this open exchange with FINRA?
16:40 – 18:29
Margaret Dubil: That’s a difficult question because I think many of us might liken the idea of picking up the phone and calling FINRA to sort of be like picking up the phone and calling the police and telling them about your weekend. And I can understand that hesitation there, but there's a number of different avenues to do so. The broker-dealers in the United States are very fortunate. They have us. They've got these regional committees. They can come to us. They can speak to us about situations. We can give them guidance. And I think we can also participate by reaching out to FINRA and saying, look, we've got a situation here. The firm is nervous about coming to you, so they came to us. But here's the underlying issue, what can we do? If somebody came to me and said that they were afraid to call FINRA, my inclination would probably be, O.K., tell me the story. Give me the situation. And then let me try to set that table. Let me try to figure out who at FINRA would be the right person to bring into the conversation, recognizing that I want to protect the firm that's coming to me. I don't want to blow them up. I want to make sure that they feel connected and they feel that warm hand. I think it's, to Peter's point, meeting people at conferences is a really good way.
But I would also recommend, come to us, lean on us a little bit and make sure that you feel comfortable coming to us, that's really part of what we're here for. We want to be able to act as an intermediary between our broker-dealers and our regulators, recognizing that that's kind of scary. We're not. Peter and I are lovely people. We're not scary. But I can understand that it might be intimidating to pick up the phone and call FINRA. Years ago, when I worked at a very small firm, we had very limited resources. I would often have to call a regulator to get an answer, and I was terrified of giving them my real name and my firm name. So, I very often made up a name and made up a firm name. And that was how I solved it. But I was really uncomfortable with the idea of just doing that. If I'd had some sort of intermediary that I could have called, I probably would have done that. And that would be my recommendation. Peter may have other thoughtful recommendations too.
18:30 – 19:46
Peter Garcia: Well, I echo that. I always view it and I know if it's the right way to because we're elected positions in these Regional Committees, Margaret and I. So, I almost feel like we are elected officials. And so, we represent our community, whether it's in the Midwest or New York. And so, I agree. I think using us as a channel is helpful. And it has come up in Regional Committee conversations, whether it's Margaret or myself. We will say, you know, we received this type of feedback from member firms, we don't mention specific individuals or firms. And again, we kind of engage in that conversation. So that kind of helps to at least keep it anonymous.
But I do know, and maybe it's a bit biased from working at FINRA and then just my experience also outside of FINRA, I just know if, unless you're calling and saying there's inappropriate activities going on in your firm, but otherwise you're ringing up a question and I've seen that the last thing someone is thinking about is we're going to examine out this firm. It's more, how can we help you? Whether it's try to give you to extent, let's say FINRA can give guidance on regulatory rule or just trying to walk through maybe the practical implications of what the firm is trying to achieve. I have yet to experience where FINRA is looking to say, I'm going to use this against you. I don't know about other regulators, but at least it hasn't been the experience with FINRA.
19:47 – 21:09
Kayte Toczylowski: I'm so glad you both brought up the resource that the Regional Committees can be for member firms, whether it's to answer a question, ask if an issue has come up or been raised during a meeting, or really just to use the Regional Committee members as an extension of their own network to have these conversations and understand how a different firm of a similar business model might be handling a new change in regulation or responding to a different regulatory initiative. So, I echo that firms should definitely use our Regional Committee members as a resource.
And that's a topic I want to stay on for a moment is resources. And I know in listening to both of you, the industry has gone through a lot of change in the recent years. And I don't think that change is going to stop anytime soon. It's a very innovative industry. And so, I know it's hard to stay on top of all of these changes, and resources and support from FINRA is something we've been focused on, especially through our FINRA Forward initiatives in helping to strengthen, empower compliance programs and help reduce the burden. So, I am interested in sticking on this topic and understanding what resources of support from FINRA have been the most helpful to both of you as you navigate regulatory changes and initiatives.
21:10 – 22:43
Peter Garcia: In terms of resources, I'm going to mention maybe two. So, one, we kind of touched on this, just the people at FINRA, I think it's helpful. Again, whether you connect at a conference or, you know, some other means, social media or through your regulatory contacts. Just being able to connect with someone, pick their brain, ask questions, I think has been the greatest resource. And again, like my experience, and I know Kayte, you and others are like this, if you can't answer the question or it's not in your area, you'll connect us kind of to the right person and we get that guidance that we're looking for.
But one that I've been fortunate to attend at least twice this year and haven't been able to do that in the past is these tabletop exercises. I think those have been extremely valuable. And I think both of them in some forms are connected to cybersecurity. But for me and for many others there is that they got to connect with many different expertise that obviously is interested in that topic. So for me, I was near other compliance folks, but there's also those in IT and cybersecurity and they have not just different experiences, but different perspectives of how they would handle this situation. And so, it's just extremely valuable for me, because I'm taking that feedback that these other experts have, and I'm sharing that internally as well. Would that be their thought process or, you know, what are we doing kind of to do our certain testing?
And so, I think those, for sure, the resources, as in the people in FINRA and then doing these tabletop exercises have been extremely valuable for me and I think for many others too.
22:44 – 23:02
Kayte Toczylowski: Thanks, Peter. And for those of you that are interested in getting more information on the tabletop exercises, you can go right to the conferences and events page on finra.org for a current listing of those upcoming sessions. And Margaret, are there any resources or support that FINRA gives that you wanted to highlight?
23:03 – 24:07
Margaret Dubil: Some of the resources that I have found that really benefit us, the education that FINRA puts out as far as guidance and your notices to members. In addition to that, I think FINRA does a really good job of bringing people together from a networking standpoint at your events like FINRA's Annual [Conference], you do a really good job of putting together peer firms when you've got opportunities for networking. I think from there we meet each other and we're able to then continue dialogue. I have met amazing people through my work with FINRA. So, through committee work, I've actually met incredible colleagues at other firms that either they've brought me into roundtables with other firms that have helped me expand my network, or I brought them into roundtables that I'm a part of.
So really, I think in some ways, FINRA almost serves as a matchmaker by putting us together at different events where we're all in one room. And then to Peter's point, some of the tabletop exercises you do, that's a little bit more specific on a focused education. But I think the more that we can do to bring ourselves together as an industry provides us all with that strength.
24:08 – 24:38
Kayte Toczylowski: Fantastic. Those are all such great resources, and I hope and encourage each of you to take advantage of those. So for firms of your sizing capacity, I know you both work at very different firms. I would love to give you each the opportunity to talk about the engagement opportunities that have felt the most accessible to you. You've already mentioned some great opportunities, but is there anything based on your type of firm that you have found easier to contribute to? Peter, we'll start with you.
24:39 – 25:54
Peter Garcia: I would like to say before I joined the Regional Committee, I sit in the business and control function, so I work very closely with the business not in compliance. So, compliance is really, and they might say lucky for them, are the ones that will always really interact with FINRA.
So, I think after joining the Regional Committee. Before that I don't think there's been much of maybe similar with member firms that they won't reach out to FINRA unless they're reaching out to us. And I'm pushing a bit more of, well, you can share some of your questions and feedback that I can, again, funnel through the Regional Committee discussions and also pushing we should have maybe regular conversations with our regulatory contacts. And so, I think they're, and we, are getting maybe more comfortable with that.
Again, I think in the past, and it could be similar to other member firms, is kind of, if we don't hear from FINRA, then we're O.K. But I think you guys, just like us, can benefit from having these conversations because you may want, good or bad, feedback on proposed rule changes. And so, that's what I'm seeing here that I think is encouraging for folks internally, that we can have those conversations. We don't need to wait every two, three, or four years when you're coming to do just a regulatory examination.
25:55 – 25:57
Kayte Toczylowski: Margaret, what would you say?
25:57 – 27:36
Margaret Dubil: I would echo what Peter said. I think these sorts of conversations, in fact, FINRA doing this podcast as a way of reminding our broker-dealers and reminding folks in the industry that you've got these connections already. You've already got people who our broker-dealers elected us. They took time from their day to vote for us. They read our bios. They chose out of all the candidates to elect specific people to represent them. We should be serving as a network for them. I think FINRA is really well intended with that and has done a really good job with that. I think a lot of it kind of does still rely on the individuals at our broker-dealers to meet folks and take some time from their day to speak to folks and participate in that. But certainly, these conversations with FINRA go a long way to remind our broker-dealers of the access that they have and the people that they could be connecting with and that we would want to be connecting.
And one other thing, and Peter kind of touched on this lightly in a prior topic, none of us are in competition. We're all here for the same purpose. I sit in rooms with other compliance professionals and until we're sitting there being interviewed for the same job, we're not in competition with each other. We're really here to make sure that our firms are aligned to protect our investors. And if we're all doing that, we're really squeezing out bad apples from our industry because we're not giving them a place to land by having similar policies and having similar rules of the road. We can really collaborate a little bit more when we have more connectivity with each other, and we can do a lot more to protect the investors in our industry and protect our firm. I think FINRA does a really good job of connecting us and putting us together. We just as individuals need to take a little bit more of a next step and keep the conversations going.
27:37 – 28:38
Peter Garcia: I just want to mention, yes, if there was a job application, I would lose to Margaret. That's fine. I accept that you are amazing. But if I can touch on that point, too, for the Regional Committee conversations, but it could be outside of that, I think it's really important, you might share, for example, pain points from a particular rule or just overall framework for Stifel that may not impact us like for my firm at Rabo Securities, but none of us goes in and say, well, we don't care about that because that's not our problem. We genuinely care and are interested. Maybe you bring up points that we didn't realize that maybe it's not a pain point currently for us, but it could be at some point.
And so yeah, those conversations are extremely helpful. And then I know, again, reinforcing what we've been sharing, I think, in this conversation, FINRA is listening. You and the team are listening to this feedback and not just, that's nice to hear, but actually taking it away saying, we're gonna connect with so-and-so and maybe this person is gonna reach out to us or we're gonna have maybe further dialogue to further understand these pain points. And I think again, that's been meaningful for us.
28:39 – 28:59
Kayte Toczylowski: So, as we wrap up, I do want to give you both the opportunity to comment on an area where FINRA does a really good job in facilitating firm engagement. You covered a lot of ground during the conversation today, but what do you want to leave the listeners with as we wrap up today's podcast?
29:00 – 29:32
Peter Garcia: I'll start first because you'll be the best for last. And it's the overall theme for us, I think the best advice, best benefit is FINRA is looking to work with us. And so, however you want to engage, could be you wait for a conference, you network there, you reach out through LinkedIn, you reach out through general customer service hotline or email, is that you guys do actually listen and want to partner and work with us. So, I think that's the main message I would probably share for everyone.
29:33 – 31:12
Margaret Dubil: Yeah, and I would echo Peter. I think, you know, it's 2025. FINRA has come a long way since the NASD and FINRA has really embraced the idea that our broker-dealers need to contribute and need to have a voice. I have found FINRA to be so open and so ready to hear us. And that's a radical shift from some of the other regulators we've worked with in DC. It really speaks volumes to the effort that FINRA is putting forth to be part of a self-regulatory organization. You really are reminding us about that self-component to it where we have to contribute. And you do so by being open. You don't have people come back for second rounds when you're not open.
And I think FINRA has done a great job of recognizing the importance of being available for the broker-dealers and being open to hear them. I think FINRA does a great job of having committees like this where we are here, we're elected by our broker-dealers to represent them and to be a voice for them. And that speaks volumes to the interest that FINRA has and really hearing that feedback. Comments on notice to members is really important. comments on rule proposals is really important.
But half the time, it's almost like social media, right? People are commenting just because they woke up angry or they woke up with a bone to pick. And that's not always the right spirit to come into these conversations with. I think when our broker-dealers are coming to FINRA with an open mind and having a real point to raise, FINRA has always been so open to hearing that and really interested in providing value to our broker-dealers and being a resource to them. So, I think really just the open mindedness and being prepared to hear from our broker-dealers is such a radical shift than what we've seen in prior versions of regulatory bodies.
31:12 – 31:49
Kayte Toczylowski: Well, thank you both so much for sharing your insights on engaging with FINRA and the importance of the member firm voice in a self-regulatory organization. Thank you not only for your time today, but also for all of the hours you give to the FINRA Regional Committees and talking to the various broker-dealers that you meet at FINRA events and conferences. Truly appreciate your feedback during those meetings and today. Thank you.
31:40 – 31:41
Peter Garcia: Thank you, Kayte.
31:41 – 31:42
Margaret Dubil: Thank you very much, Kayte.
31:43 – 32:46
Margherita Beale: That's it for today's episode of FINRA Unscripted. Kayte, Margaret and Peter, thank you so much for joining us today. Listeners, if you don't already, please be sure to subscribe to FINRA Unscripted wherever you listen to podcasts. All of the resources mentioned in today's podcast will be included on the homepage for the podcast episode. Today's episode was produced by me, Margherita Beale, and engineered by John Williams. Until next time.
32:03 – 32:12
Outro Music
32:13 – 32:46
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