FINRA Market Investigations Chief Joins Fintech Firm Finalis

Steven Price, a senior official who oversaw market investigations at the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), has departed the Wall Street watchdog to join the fintech firm Finalis as its chief compliance officer. The company announced the move on Thursday.

During his six years at FINRA, Price was instrumental in supervising thousands of investigations into potential securities law violations, including insider trading and market manipulation. He also spearheaded the development of FINRA's first AI-driven model for analyzing complaints and referrals of potential misconduct.

Price's transition to Finalis, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2020 by former M&A lawyer Federico Baradello, underscores the evolving landscape of investment banking. Fintechs and AI are increasingly enabling smaller firms to compete with larger Wall Street institutions by automating analytical and administrative tasks.

Finalis provides the necessary licensing and compliance infrastructure for these boutique firms to handle deals. Price stated that the opportunity to apply lessons learned at FINRA in making processes faster and connecting information effectively was highly attractive. To date, Finalis has facilitated $34 billion in transactions.