The title “Navigating Change” set appropriate expectations for attendees at FINRA’s 2024 Annual Conference, and the staff and speakers stayed true to the theme. In his welcoming remarks, Robert Cook, FINRA CEO, noted that change was the order of the day and gave a positive message about the opportunities ahead for financial services firms.
FINRA embraces change
In a packed ballroom to a sell-out crowd, the conference kickoff brought Mr. Cook and Eric Noll, Chairman of the FINRA Board, to the stage for a chat moderated by Kayte Toczylowski, FINRA’s Vice President, Member Relations and Education. To me, the combination of internal and external viewpoints from FINRA’s top executive and its board chair, a public director, was well-balanced and meaningful considering a good number of the challenges facing our industry are not tied solely to our industry—cyber security, privacy, economic pressures, political pressures impacting the rule-making process, and others. While Mr. Cook discussed his initiatives and plans for the regulator, Mr. Noll’s insights provided a glimpse into the innerworkings of the FINRA Board, the committee structure, and the importance of industry participation and input through a public lens.
Mr. Cook pointed out FINRA’s successes in the “Digital Transformation” he initiated upon taking over the reins at FINRA—and in my view, with good reason. Under his leadership, FINRA has transformed its digital capabilities, involved industry leaders and stakeholders in developing new functionality, and undergone an organizational restructuring that to me appears to have brought meaningful change to the organization. Therefore, it felt reasonable to get behind his expressed confidence that the goals of the regulator going forward were attainable.
Mr. Cook noted the ways in which FINRA intends to support its members through a culture of continuous improvement and the ongoing digital transformation of FINRA tools and platforms for its staff and member firms. He suggested that attendees embrace change while monitoring for risk, using AI in the workplace as one example he called a “clear opportunity” for innovation.
Themes of AI and continuous improvement
I observed that from the opening address to the closing remarks, two themes raised by Mr. Cook and Mr. Noll were prevalent throughout the conference.
First and potentially foremost, the benefits and risks of AI rose to the top as a component of nearly every panel presentation. In the opening remarks, Mr. Noll expressed his view that firms must be mindful to balance risk and reward and suggested there was good reason to bring AI expertise in house. For his part, Mr. Cook stated that he believed AI presented the industry with a clear opportunity.
Also, the culture of continuous improvement was a featured theme. Mr. Cook advised the audience of his intention to foster and support continuous improvement. This commitment was echoed by FINRA staff in numerous panels, demonstrating to me that the message had made its way through the leadership at FINRA.
Generative AI special session
AI was central to many of the panel presentations throughout the conference. Anticipating that the 45-minute session on generative AI on the agenda may not satisfy the interest of the attendees, FINRA added a 90-minute, pre-conference workshop: “Generative AI Primer.” Presenters Brad Ahrens, FINRA Senior VP of Advanced Analytics, and Chase Skipper, Senior Director of Technology, did not waste of moment of the allotted time in small talk. The workshop balanced historical, technical, relevant, and forward-looking information. Possibly the most valued was the presentation deck distributed to attendees, a useful take-away with charts, analysis, and illustrations that I for one will refer to frequently.
My advice to conference organizers: take a note from FINRA’s playbook and address popular topics in workshop fashion à la the AI primer. If FINRA’s effort is any indication, the room will fill with eager attendees, even if scheduled at 8:00 am.
AI was at the forefront
I think the 90-minute, pre-conference primer on AI was an agenda add-on that paid off. Despite the AI topic coming up in all of the sessions I attended, the only agenda slot dedicated to AI (“Generative Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models—A Look Ahead”) was given just 45 minutes. With yours truly as the industry panelist alongside Scott Gilbert, FINRA Vice President, Member Supervision, and Marco Enriquez, Principal Data Scientist, SEC Division of Economic and Risk Analysis, it was hard to imagine how we could provide enough meaningful information and stay on track in that short time. Up to the challenge, our moderator, Brad Ahrens, Senior VP, FINRA Advanced Analytics, took great care to keep panelists on track and the audience engaged while hitting the primary topics of the panel: risks, challenges, governance, and what may be on the regulatory radar in the future.
White paper → Considering AI solutions for your business? Ask these questions.
Outside speakers in plenary sessions
FINRA’s conference provided an opportunity to hear from top-shelf, outside guest speakers: US Deputy National Security Adviser for Cyber and Emerging Technologies and the Deputy Director of the FBI; the SEC Director of Trading and Markets; the US House of Representatives’ Vice-Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee; and an acclaimed researcher. I do not have enough room in this blog to provide detail about each session, so I’ll just say that I felt these sessions were worth the price of admission. That written, if I had to pick a top contender for memorable moment, I would credit the cyber panel moderator Omar Meisel, FINRA’s Executive Vice President, National Cause and Financial Crimes Detection Program, for his stellar introduction of Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Adviser. Apparently, when considering how he would introduce her, he learned that her favorite book is “Geniuses at War,” and he incorporated mention of the book into his introduction. This seemed to surprise even Ms. Neuberger. The heartfelt dialogue that followed was compelling. I am guessing I was not the only one in the audience who ordered a copy of the book during or after the session.
Shared transparency
To me the candor of FINRA’s executive leadership in discussions regarding enforcement, the rule-making process, and new initiatives was refreshing and new, or at least more evident, than in past conferences. A few examples included a description of the rule-making process by Robert Colby, FINRA Chief Legal Officer. If you wanted to know how the sausage was made, Mr. Colby delivered on every last detail. With similar transparency, Greg Ruppert, Executive Vice President, FINRA Member Supervision, described the progression of the supervisory overhaul FINRA first introduced in 2019 including its challenges and successes. Then there was Kosha Dalal, Vice President, FINRA Associate General Counsel, who described with meticulous care the efforts of FINRA to coordinate withdrawal of COVID-era accommodations and the effective dates of new related rules. While not every attendee would be expected to agree that the FINRA news was good news, I was appreciative of the depth of exposure granted during the presentations.
For its part, the industry had an opportunity to provide insight on the day-to-day challenges they face as compliance professionals and business leaders including the impact of rule-making on their enterprises in an informative panel session.
Approachability of FINRA staff
I found the presence and accessibility of FINRA staff throughout the event to be an advantage to attendees. If you wanted to meet with a regulator on a topic of interest or if you sought to connect with an individual in particular, the opportunity was there. Breakfasts and lunches were set up to encourage interaction among FINRA staff and attendees. FINRA’s “Idea Booth” provided a comfortable setting for meaningful dialogue among attendees and staff. FINRA tempted attendees to the Idea Booth by offering lattes by day and espresso martinis after hours, and the concept proved to be a creative way to dial back the pressure and encourage interaction. I haven’t had any feedback on the martinis, but I heard that the lattes were quite good.
Two closing thoughts
For my small part as a panelist, I had an opportunity to personally experience the pre-conference preparation as well as the behind-the-scenes coordination and professional production of the event. A sincere and grateful call out to the production team at FINRA for their efforts which enhanced the overall attendee experience.
Having opted for remote attendance over the past two years, I was very glad to be back at the FINRA Conference in person this year. It was great to see y’all and shake a few hands.
If you're evaluating AI solutions for your organization, download the white paper to learn the essential questions to ask AI providers before making an investment.
The opinions provided are those of the author and not necessarily those of Fidelity Investments or its affiliates.
Fidelity does not assume any duty to update any of the information.
1149069.1.0
