NASD
As the world's leading private-sector provider of financial regulatory services, NASD has helped bring integrity to the markets - and confidence to investors - for more than 60 years.
Our role in the United States is well known - NASD has long served as the primary private-sector regulator of America's securities industry. We oversee the activities of more than 5,050 brokerage firms, approximately 171,790 branch offices and more than 662,150 registered securities representatives. In addition, we provide outsourced regulatory products and services to a number of stock markets and exchanges.
From oversight to education, we touch virtually every aspect of the securities industry. NASD licenses individuals and admits firms to the industry, writes rules to govern their behavior, examines them for regulatory compliance and disciplines those who fail to comply. We oversee and regulate trading in equities, corporate bonds, securities futures and options. And we provide education and qualification examinations to industry professionals while supporting securities firms in their compliance activities. We also operate the largest securities dispute resolution forum in the world, processing over 8,000 arbitrations and 1,000 mediations a year. With a staff of nearly 2,000 and an annual budget of more than $500 million, NASD is a world leader in capital markets regulation.
