John E. Pinto

John Pinto is a Managing Director at Renaissance Regulatory Services, Inc. Based in Washington, D.C., he provides regulatory and compliance consulting and support to all segments of the financial services industry, including major broker-dealers across the country. During his almost 30-year career as a regulator with the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), the predecessor to FINRA, Mr. Pinto rose from entry-level examiner to become the top-level executive in charge of all NASD examination and enforcement functions.

At the NASD, Mr. Pinto served for almost 10 years as Executive Vice President for regulation. He reported directly to the President of NASD, and he was responsible for more than half of approximately 1,800 NASD employees.  He helped establish policies, practices and procedures for NASD examination, surveillance and enforcement activities. Specifically, his responsibilities included the operation and management of the 14 NASD District Offices. These offices conduct field examinations of the 5,500 NASD members, perform financial and operational surveillance, investigate customer complaints, and initiate disciplinary actions as appropriate. Also under Mr. Pinto’s direction was the regulation of the NASDAQ Stock Market, OTC Bulletin Board, and other OTC markets under the Market Surveillance Department; the Enforcement Department for major fraud and manipulation cases; Corporate Financing for review of underwriting materials; Advertising Regulation for overseeing NASD member compliance with Association rules regarding advertising and sales literature; and the Compliance Department for support of district operations and establishing examination policies and procedures.

Mr. Pinto has received numerous awards and honors. For example, in 1997 he received the Securities Industry Association’s Compliance and Legal Division award for “Meritorious and Distinguished Services to the Securities Industry,” and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s award for “Exceptional Service in the Public Interest.” In 1996, he received the Outstanding Human Performance Intervention Award for performance and instructional technology from the International Society for Performance Improvement, and the Microsoft and Computerworld-sponsored Windows World Open award for using technology in new and original ways to enhance business.

Among his many accomplishments and contributions as a senior executive of the NASD, Mr. Pinto testified before Congress on behalf of the Association, where he appeared before the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance of the House of Representatives regarding international securities enforcement, the municipal securities market, penny stock market fraud, short-selling activity in the stock markets, and sales practice abuses such as the presence of unscrupulous “rogue brokers” in the securities industry.

While with the NASD, Mr. Pinto was the keynote speaker and featured panelist at all NASD and NASDR Spring and Fall compliance conferences. He was also a key speaker at annual conferences of the Securities Industry Association’s Compliance and Legal Division, and at several National Regulatory Services Compliance Conferences. Other conference and seminar engagements include the Bank Securities Association, Consumer Bankers Association, Practicing Law Institute, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Reserve, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

In addition to numerous publications within the NASD, he has written for external publications, notably: The NASD’s Enforcement Agenda in the Northwestern University Law Review, Spring, 1991; Trading and Market Making Surveillance Program for the NASDAQ Stock Market for the Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, Henry Stewart Publications, London, England, 1996; and a chapter on NASD regulatory and enforcement programs in The NASDAQ Stock Market Handbook.

Mr. Pinto served as a member of the NASD’s Market Regulation Committee, which delegated authority by the NASD Board of Governors to, among other things, advise it on matters involving the surveillance and enforcement of rules governing NASD members’ conduct in the NASDAQ Stock Market and other OTC markets. He currently serves on the Bank Insurance & Securities Association (“BISA”) Regulatory and Compliance Advisory Board whose charter is to increase awareness of, and act as a resource for BISA members on regulatory and compliance issues in the bank insurance and securities industry.

Mr. Pinto graduated from Rutgers University cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Office: (561) 368-2245
Direct: (202) 463-6575

JohnPinto@RRSCompliance.com