Forward To The Past: NYSE Returns To Regulation

Everything old is new again. On January 1, 2016, the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") – now owned by Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. – will be taking back some of the regulatory responsibilities it yielded to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA"), starting in 2007 when the NYSE and National Association of Securities Dealers ("NASD") merged their self-regulatory functions.  The goal then was to address inefficiencies and overlap that often resulted from the concurrent oversight by these two self-regulatory organizations ("SROs").

Securities industry SROs date back to the 1930's, when Congress passed a series of broad acts designed to avoid a repeat of the 1929 Stock Market Crash.  Included in this legislation was the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"), which, among other significant measures, set forth national exchange registration requirements.  Under these requirements, a prospective exchange must file with the Securities and