Securities Dealers Move Toward Reform

The National Association of Securities Dealers’ selection of the nation’s top commodities and futures regulator, Mary Schapiro, to lead its new regulatory arm signals the agency is serious about reforms, analysts said Friday.

In an interview Friday, Schapiro indicated plans for a thorough review of how effectively the NASD regulates the nation’s 500,000 Wall Street professionals.

“It’s a big and important organization that really needs a fresh look at how it does things,” Schapiro said.

Her appointment came after the NASD, the largest self-regulatory group for stock brokers and their firms, agreed last month to place a majority of public members on its board of directors and separate its regulatory duties from operation of the Nasdaq Stock Market.