Notice of FINRA Regional Committee Elections and Mailing of Ballots

Executive Summary

The purpose of this Election Notice is to notify firms of the start of the annual Regional Committee elections and the mailing of ballots to eligible firms to vote for their representatives on the following Regional Committees:

• Midwest Region Committee, Districts 4 and 8
• New York Region Committee, District 10
• North Region Committee, Districts 9 and 11
• South Region Committee, Districts 6 and 7
• West Region Committee, Districts 2 and 3

Firms that are FINRA members in the districts listed above are eligible to vote for the contested seats.

Voting concludes on Wednesday, November 19, 2025. 

Ballots will not be distributed for the uncontested seats¹ where the candidates are running unopposed.

As a self-regulatory organization, FINRA is committed to deep engagement with its member firms, including through FINRA’s Regional Committees. The Regional Committees play an important part of informing FINRA’s regulatory programs by, among other things, alerting FINRA to industry trends that could present regulatory concerns and consulting with FINRA on proposed policies and rule changes. Regional Committee members also may serve on disciplinary panels in accordance with FINRA rules.

Questions regarding this Election Notice may be directed to:

• Jennifer Piorko Mitchell, Vice President – Corporate Governance and Deputy Corporate Secretary, at (202) 728-8949 or via email; or
• Kayte Toczylowski, Vice President, Member Relations and Education, at (215) 209-7087 or via email.

Voting Information

FINRA members as of the close of business on Friday, October 17, 2025, in the contested districts listed above, are eligible to vote in the elections, and these will be the only firms receiving ballots.

Voting instructions are included in the email sent on October 20, 2025, from [email protected] and on the ballots being mailed to eligible firms. The executive representative² of each eligible firm can vote by telephone, internet or U.S. mail. Voting concludes on Wednesday, November 19, 2025. 

Terms of Regional Committee Members

The new Regional Committee members will serve three-year terms starting on January 1, 2026, and expiring on December 31, 2028. There is no limit on the number of terms a Regional Committee member may serve, except that Regional Committee members may not serve more than two full terms consecutively. Terms of Regional Committee members will terminate if they do not remain eligible for the seat for which they were elected.

Regional Committee Candidates

Election Notice 9/4/2025 previously announced the upcoming vacancies on the Regional Committees and the process by which interested individuals could seek to become candidates. The Regional Committees are organized into the following regions: Midwest (Districts 4 and 8); New York (District 10); North (Districts 9 and 11); South (Districts 5, 6 and 7); and West (Districts 1, 2 and 3).

All individuals who submitted their names and met the qualifications³ were certified as candidates for their district’s election. Below is a list of the candidates and which regions/districts are contested or uncontested.

CANDIDATES FOR CONTESTED SEATS

Below are the candidates running for the contested seats:

• Midwest Region Committee: District 4 – Candidates Running for Two Vacancies
  • Tori Erker, Chief Compliance Officer, Heim, Young & Associates, Inc.
  • Jeff Plummer, Senior Vice President/Chief Compliance Officer, Axos Securities, Axos Clearing LLC
  • Greg Toohey, Vice President – Compliance, Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC
  • Scott Weindel, Principal, Edward Jones
  • Steve Youhn, Senior Vice President/Chief Compliance Officer, Cambridge Investment Research, Inc. (Current committee member; term expires 12/31/2025)
     
• Midwest Region Committee: District 8 Candidates Running for Two Vacancies
  • Jack Donnelly, Lead Principal Central Supervision, Key Investment Services LLC
  • Randy Pistor, Chief Legal Officer, Sigma Financial Corporation
  • John Taylor-Jones, Chief Compliance Officer/AML Officer, Private Client Services, LLC (Current committee member; term expires 12/31/2025)
     
• New York Region Committee: District 10 – Candidates Running for Four Vacancies
  • Junnette Alayo, Chief Compliance Officer, Galaxy Digital Partners LLC
  • Elin Cherry, Head of Americas Compliance, Marex Capital Markets Inc.
  • Robert Garan, Principal - Branch Manager, PHX Financial, Inc.
  • Sharon Gaviria, Chief Financial Officer/Chief Compliance Officer, Stuart Frankel & Co. Incorporated
  • Vincent Iannuzzi, CEO, Beech Hill Securities, Inc. (Current committee member; term expires 12/31/2025)
  • Joseph W. Lodato, Chief Compliance Officer, Octaura Securities
  • Maurizio Manzati, Chief Executive Officer/Chief Compliance Officer, Golden Eagle Securities, Inc.
  • Justin Ramirez, General Counsel/Chief Compliance Officer, Dub Financial, LLC
  • Markus Witthaut, Chief Compliance Officer, Seaport Global Securities LLC
     
• North Region Committee: District 9 – Candidates Running for Two Vacancies
  • Harold G. Chaffee, Chief Compliance Officer, NewEdge Securities, LLC
  • John C. Crittenden, III, Chief Operating Officer/Chief Compliance Officer/Executive Representative, FTI Capital Advisors, LLC
  • Jonathan Fox, Department Supervisor/Supervision, Pinnacle Investments, LLC
  • Samantha Larew, Chief Compliance Officer, Manning & Napier Investor Services, Inc. (Current committee member; term expires 12/31/2025)
  • Yenny M. Soracipa Rubio, Senior Compliance Officer, INX SECURITIES, LLC
  • Michael Wadkins, Chief Brokerage Officer, Composer Securities LLC
     
• North Region Committee: District 11 – Candidates Running for Two Vacancies
  • Molly Diggins, Partner/General Counsel, Monument Group, Inc.
  • Alexander Logan, Compliance Analyst, VP Distributors LLC
  • Gordon Taylor, Senior Director/Chief Compliance Officer, Distribution Services, LLC
     
• South Region Committee: District 6 – Candidates Running for Two Vacancies
  • Sirrod Garrett, Vice President, Head of Supervision & Surveillance, Interim Chief Compliance Officer, First Command Financial Services, Inc. (Current committee member; term expires 12/31/2025)
  • Michael Oxley, Deputy Chief Compliance Officer, Apex Clearing Corporation (Current committee member; term expires 12/31/2025)
  • Tarah Williams, President/Chief Operating Officer, Prospera Financial Services, Inc.
     
• South Region Committee: District 7 – Candidates Running for Two Vacancies
  • Shawn Barko, Chief Compliance Officer, Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (Current committee member; term expires 12/31/2025)
  • Carlos Barrientos, Chief Compliance Officer, Invex, LLC.
  • Anthony Cavallaro, Chief Compliance Officer, Robinhood Financial, LLC
  • Deanna Collier, Chief Executive Officer/Chief Compliance Officer, InvestiFi Securities LLC
  • Dulce Galindo, Chief Compliance Officer, Bradesco Investments Inc.
  • Chris Hutchens, Director of Compliance, Sanctuary Securities, Inc.
  • Kurt Sims, Compliance Manager/Interim Chief Compliance Officer, First Citizens Investor Services, Inc.
  • Wes Springfield, Vice President/PCG Finance, Raymond James Financial Services, Inc.
     
• West Region Committee: District 2 Candidates Running for Two Vacancies
  • Darius Lashkari, Chief Compliance Officer, Investment Placement Group
  • Stephen Murphy, Chief Compliance Officer, Armory Securities, LLC
  • Mark Quinn, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Cetera Wealth Services, LLC
     
• West Region Committee: District 3 Candidates Running for Two Vacancies
  • Amal Amin, General Counsel, Paulson Investment Company LLC
  • John Christolini, VP/Chief Compliance Officer EFSI, Empower Financial Services, Inc.
  • James P. Dowd, Chief Executive Officer, North Capital Private Securities Corporation
  • Ronald Olexsak, Chief Compliance Officer, Thornburg Securities LLC

CANDIDATES FOR UNCONTESTED SEATS

For the seats listed below, there were sufficient candidates to fill the vacancies. Therefore, ballots will not be mailed for the following uncontested seats. Below are the candidates for uncontested seats:

• South Region Committee: District 5 Candidates (Two Seats – Uncontested)
  • Kendra Cain, Chief Compliance Officer, Arvest Investments, Inc.
  • Don Chaney, Senior Vice President/Chief Compliance Officer, Stephens Inc. (Current committee member; term expires 12/31/2025)
     
• West Region Committee: District 1 Candidates (Two Seats – Uncontested)
  • Dave Banerjee, Registered Principal, Second Street Securities, Inc. (Current committee member; term expires 12/31/2025)
  • Michael R. Thomas, Senior Director - Head of Compliance Testing, Forge Securities LLC

Endnotes

¹ The following seats are uncontested: South Region/District 5 and West Region/District 1.

² Pursuant to FINRA Rule 4517, firms must update their contact information promptly, but in any event not later than 30 days following any change in such information, as well as review and, if necessary, update the information within 17 business days after the end of each calendar year. To update an executive representative’s name, mailing address and email address, firms may access the FINRA Contact System, via FINRA Gateway. Additionally, firms must comply with any FINRA request for such information promptly, but in any event not later than 15 days following the request, or such longer period that may be agreed to by FINRA staff. See FINRA Rule 4517.

³ See FINRA Regulation By-Laws, Article VIII, Section 8.2.