On November 15, 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced several changes to its advisory committees as a part of a series of FINRA Board of Governors transparency initiatives. The changes aim to increase the advisory committees' effectiveness by making it easier for firms to provide feedback on key issues before FINRA. The changes include placing the Operations Advisory Committee in charge of providing input on the operational and technological effects of rule changes. FINRA also will require more detail to be provided in FINRA rule filings and Regulatory Notices regarding the committees that reviewed the proposals. To increase transparency, FINRA will be publishing the rosters of each advisory committee on its website and issuing an annual notice about the committees. FINRA currently has 16 advisory committees, consisting of more than 160 industry members and 35 non-industry members, which meet in-person or telephonically between two and five times annually. These changes follow the development of a new web page to make information regarding FINRA's governance and corporate structure easily accessible. For more information, see http://www.finra.org/newsroom/2017/finra-announces-enhancements-advisory-committees-increase-transparency-improve.
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