Keynote Remarks at FINRA 2026 Annual Conference

Good morning and thank you Robert for that kind introduction. I'm excited to be here speaking with you all today.

As is customary, I must note that the views I share today are my own as Chairman and don't necessarily reflect those of the Commission.

I'd like to begin with a simple but important premise: modern financial markets are too complex, too fast-moving, and too interconnected to be effectively overseen by government agencies alone. That is precisely why self-regulatory organizations exist and continue to matter. Effective oversight in modern markets requires both scale and specialization.

Organizations like FINRA and the NFA sit right at the center of that design. They're closer to the day-to-day activity. They see trends earlier. They can respond faster. And importantly, they bring a level of technical expertise that complements what federal regulators are doing.

FINRA's oversight of broker-dealers, for example, provides more robust oversight of member firms than the SEC could perform alone. Similarly, on the derivatives side, the NFA's oversight of swap dealers provides a level of continuous supervision that would be difficult for the CFTC to replicate on its own.

Having spent time at the SEC and as a securities lawyer, I came to appreciate just how much the regulatory ecosystem depends on FINRA functioning effectively. The system works because FINRA is embedded in it.

But even good systems can be better, and one of the biggest opportunities right now is coordination.

We live in an increasingly convergent financial ecosystem where activities span both securities and derivatives markets, resulting in CFTC and SEC jurisdictions frequently overlapping.

To navigate this, I'm working with Chairman Atkins to harmonize our agencies' policymaking and oversight to better serve the American people. In recent months, we've entered into a memorandum of understanding, launched a joint harmonization initiative, joined the SEC's Project Crypto, and advanced a common-sense crypto asset taxonomy to deliver clarity to our nation's builders and innovators.

These examples are just the beginning. I expect both of our agencies will soon issue joint requests for comment as the first step toward completing rules for portfolio margining and swap data reporting.

There have been ongoing efforts to better align swap data reporting under CFTC rules with security-based swap reporting under SEC Regulation SBSR. This coordination is aimed at reducing discrepancies between the agencies' rules and improving data quality and usability.

We're also coordinating enforcement like never before. Our parallel actions and information sharing have reduced the risk of duplicative or inconsistent outcomes for the same underlying conduct.

When the CFTC and SEC operate in true alignment, whether through coordinated rulemaking, unified priorities, or by simply having staff of both agencies working together, the impact is significant. This collaborative approach not only streamlines compliance and reduces costs for market participants but also enhances regulatory effectiveness, reduces confusion, and strengthens the overall integrity of financial markets.

Harmonization between the CFTC and SEC isn't just efficient, it's common sense.

But the buck doesn't stop with federal agencies. In order for harmonization to be fully effective, SROs must also coordinate.

FINRA and the NFA operate in increasingly overlapping territory. The lines between securities and commodity derivatives are ever-changing, leaving firms navigating both regimes at once, sometimes in ways that weren't envisioned when the rules were first written.

We have a real opportunity here for greater collaboration. Not to merge identities or flatten important differences, but to align the organizations in ways that help regulators and market participants. Coordinated exams, more alignment with recordkeeping, and surveillance. Consistent approaches where appropriate. Shared insights on emerging risks.

At the end of the day, market integrity isn't achieved in silos. It's the result of a system where regulators, SROs, and market participants are all moving in the same direction, even when they're playing different roles.

SROs are a critical adjuvant to federal market regulation. They extend the reach of regulators, bring expertise to the front lines, and create a feedback loop between policy and practice that makes our entire framework stronger.

If we can continue to align where alignment adds value while preserving the specialization that makes each part of the system effective, we move closer to a framework that is not just comprehensive, but internally consistent.

And for those of you in the audience who work in legal or compliance, that consistency is not just a convenience, it's what allows you to allocate resources more effectively, reduce costs and interpretive risk, and focus on what actually matters.

That's a goal worth pursuing. Thank you, and I look forward to the fireside chat.