Valerie Mirko Testifies Before Congress on Role of FINRA and MSRB

A. Valerie Mirko, partner and leader of the Securities Regulation and Litigation practice and managing attorney of the D.C. office of national law firm Armstrong Teasdale, testified before Congress today at a hearing entitled “The Role of Self-Regulatory Organizations in U.S. Markets: Examining FINRA and the MSRB.”

Mirko discussed recommendations to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee’s Capital Markets Subcommittee, which has oversight of the SEC and self-regulatory organizations, related to:

• Improving SEC and Board Oversight of SRO Governance
• Addressing Fairness and Due Process Concerns of SROs
• Eliminating SRO Inefficiencies and Duplication
• Increasing Fairness and Efficiencies in the Rulemaking Process
• Correcting the Weaknesses in FINRA’s Arbitration Process

Mirko’s testimony, which was live streamed and recorded, was held on March 5 in the 2128 Rayburn House Office Building before the House Financial Services Committee.

“We are incredibly proud of Valerie for testifying before Congress. Being invited to provide insight on such consequential legislation reflects her vast experience and knowledge and the respect she commands in the securities regulatory arena,” said Richard Engel Jr., Managing Partner of Armstrong Teasdale. “Valerie’s testimony underscores our firm’s longstanding commitment to thoughtful, balanced market oversight and to strengthening transparency and accountability in U.S. capital markets. We congratulate her on this significant achievement and on representing our firm with distinction before Congress.”

Mirko prepared for her testimony with a team at Armstrong Teasdale and its government affairs and regulatory services subsidiary, AT Government Strategies LLC (ATGS), including:

• Devon Goodall, Director of Regulatory Policy, ATGS
• Matt Kitzi, Partner, Armstrong Teasdale, Securities Regulation and Litigation Practice and Vice President, ATGS
• Alex Cohen, Partner, Armstrong Teasdale, Securities Regulation and Litigation Practice
• Matt Turner, Counsel, Armstrong Teasdale, Securities Regulation and Litigation Practice
• Kameron Hillstrom, Senior Associate, Armstrong Teasdale, Private Funds Practice 
• Noelle Mack, Associate, Armstrong Teasdale, Securities Regulation and Litigation Practice

Mirko joined Armstrong in 2023 from the Washington, DC office of a global law firm. She is also a former General Counsel of the North American Securities Administrators Association NASAA, the association of state securities regulators, where she actively contributed to federal-state regulatory coordination with the SEC and FINRA.