FINRA Small Firms Face Existential Crisis. VOTE Stephen Kohn for Small Firm Governor

July 29, 2022

FINRA will conduct its Annual Meeting of firms on Friday, August 19, 2022; and the purpose of the meeting is to elect an individual to fill one small firm seat on the FINRA Board of Governors. All eligible small firms should submit a proxy, which must be signed by the executive representative of the firm eligible to vote in the election.

Time to clean house at the FINRA Board of Governors

The "BrokeAndBroker.com Blog" and
the "Securities Industry Commentator"
urge all FINRA Small Firms to vote for:

Stephen A. Kohn, President
DMK Advisors Group, Inc.

Sakohn7@gmail.com

(303) 880-4304

Stephen Kohn has been employed in the financial services industry since 1984, to
which he has devoted most of his working life.

Mr. Kohn founded, owned and operated a FINRA small member firm, Stephen A.
Kohn & Associates, Ltd. (SAKL) located in Lakewood, Colorado since 1996. On January 1, 2020 ownership of SAKL was turned over to DMK Advisor Group, Inc. (DMK). He has assumed the role of president of DMK and, will continue as such well into the future.

In 2017, Mr. Kohn was elected by the Small Firm Membership to the FINRA Board
of Governors to represent Small Firm interests and issues at the highest levels. He
served on the Regulatory Policy and Audit Committees.

He has been twice elected to the National Adjudicatory Council (NAC) by FINRA's
small firms, first in 2009 and again in 2014. The NAC is FINRA's appellate division,
hearing appeals to enforcement decisions and other issues.

While on the NAC, Mr. Kohn served on the Sanction Guideline Review and Revision
Sub-Committee. This sub-committee was convened to review the Sanction
Guidelines to ensure that sanctions in appeals that are upheld by the NAC are fair
and appropriate and to recommend revisions as needed. He is also an industry
arbitrator and has served on the District 3 Committee.

Mr. Kohn holds the following securities licenses: Series, 7, 14, 24, 53, 63, 72, 73, 79
and 99. He graduated from C.W. Post College of Long Island University in 1964 with a
BA degree. He has served in the U.S. Coast Guard.

A personal note from Bill Singer, the publisher of the BrokeAndBroker.com Blog and Securities Industry Commentator:

By way of my background in NASD/FINRA politics, please read: "The FINRA Dissident Community: A History" (BrokeAndBroker.com Blog / August 23, 2019)
https://www.brokeandbroker.com/4765/bill-singer-finra-dissident/

If you are a FINRA Small Firm you don't need me to tell you how dire things have become in 2022. Year after year, the numbers of small firms have dwindled to the point where there are now more FINRA employees than FINRA member firms. In response to that changing landscape, the FINRA Large Firms have consolidated their grip on FINRA and continue to socially engineer their small competitors out of business.

Let us be clear: There is nothing wrong about drawing a line and saying here but no farther! There is nothing wrong with feeling your back pressed against the wall and refusing to be pushed into it. Although the FINRA Small Firm community acts responsibly, seeks reasonable reforms, and presses for fair regulation, its efforts are rebuffed -- not just occasionally but persistently. Each year, candidates for one of the three FINRA Small Firm seats seek your vote and promise to speak out and speak up on your behalf. Once elected, however, your purported champions become complacent -- some might even say compliant. That's why the membership roll is close to falling under 3,000 firms. That's why the cost of just staying in business overwhelms many smaller firms.

I have known Stephen Kohn for many years. Stephen has owned his own small firm. He has been in our biz for decades. Stephen sees the crisis that is upon us, and he knows that it's now or never. He will take his seat at the FINRA Board, but he will not be told to sit down and shut up. VOTE FOR STEPHEN KOHN!