What's In A Name - Complaints About SIRA Leads To Complaints about FINRA

The NASD recently announced that they were changing the name of the new regulatory agency which will arise from the merger of the NASD and NYSE. Originally named SIRA, (Securities Industry Regulatory Authority) the acronym apparently sounds similar to an Arabic word referring to the biographies of the Prophet Muhammad and could be considered offensive to some people.

The new name, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA was just announced. And the Financial Planning Association, which has a particular problem with the NASD and the entire securities regulatory scheme in this country is now objecting, saying that the name implies that the self-regulatory organization will have jurisdiction over more than just the brokerage industry.

Thankfully, the NASD is not going to budge, based on this comment -

I would need a degree in psychology to comment on the level of paranoia in this press release," said NASD spokesman Howard Schloss

referring to the Financial Planning Associations press release announcing its objection to the new name.

Enough already. Get the merger approved.