WASHINGTON – The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that Richard W. Berry will become Executive Vice President and Director of Dispute Resolution, starting December 1. Berry will report directly to Richard Ketchum, FINRA's Chairman and CEO. He is replacing Linda Fienberg, who is retiring on November 30.

Berry joined NASD in 1995 as head of Dispute Resolution's Los Angeles satellite office and was later promoted to Director of Case Administration in NASD's New York City office in 2001. In his current role as Senior Vice President, Mr. Berry oversees FINRA Dispute Resolution's four regional offices—New York, Boca Raton, Chicago and Los Angeles—and the New York Case Administration unit. Prior to joining NASD Dispute Resolution, he taught American law for one year in Budapest. Berry began his career practicing law in San Francisco. He is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara and Hastings College of the Law. Berry is a member of the California Bar.

Richard Ketchum said, "Rick is an effective and thoughtful leader who brings a fresh perspective at a crucial time as we build the future of the forum. We are fortunate to have someone who throughout his career with FINRA has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to ensuring that our forum provides the highest level of service to the investors and other parties who use it. I would also like to thank Linda for the exceptional contributions she has made to FINRA's Dispute Resolution Forum over the past 18 years."

FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services. FINRA touches virtually every aspect of the securities business—from registering and educating all industry participants to examining securities firms, writing rules, enforcing those rules and the federal securities laws, informing and educating the investing public, providing trade reporting and other industry utilities, and administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and firms. For more information, please visit www.finra.org.