There is little logic to FINRA's penalties as applied to retail brokers. In the instant case, the employee lied to his employer, now his former employer, and he was punished for it. The $2500 fine is not excessive, though a four-month suspension is not trivial if he hopes to work again. In the broker's favor, or at least arguing for some mercy, it is significant that no customers were harmed.  

On the other hand, compare the fines in cases where there were very material…

If the SEC and the banking regulators had not previously discouraged, or effectively prohibited, regulated broker-dealers and banks from providing custody, the FTX disaster would not have happened at nearly the same level. In that matter, investors custodied with an unregulated entity because the regulators did not allow an obviously preferable alternative. 

The SEC is applying common sense to the scope of the clearing mandate; i.e., as to the exclusion from the mandate of repos that may include U.S. Governments. Nonetheless, the ultimate economic impact of the mandate on the costs of funding U.S. Government debt is inherently uncertain. Given that uncertainty, it seems prudent for the SEC to exclude non-U.S. transactions from the mandate; or at least delay the application until the market has absorbed the impact of imposing the…

Commissioner Crenshaw's statement that regulatory harmonization should "never be an end in itself" should be challenged. While it may not be the only end, harmonization should be a significant goal. It is very important. Duplicative and inconsistent regulations are a tax on the market, and indirectly a tax on users of the markets. Or to put it in the language of the SEC's three-part mission, as quoted by Commissioner Crenshaw, harmonization serves the goals for developing efficient market…