WASHINGTON (November 28, 2006) – The following is a statement from Joseph P. Borg, President of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and Director of the Alabama Securities Commission, on the announcement by NASD and NYSE Group, Inc. that they have signed a letter of intent to consolidate their member regulation operations into a new self-regulatory organization (SRO) that will be the private sector regulator for securities brokers and dealers in the United States.

“On behalf of NASAA, I congratulate NASD and the NYSE on taking a significant step toward streamlining broker-dealer regulation and increasing our nation’s competitiveness in international markets. I trust their mission of investor protection will continue unabated and NASAA stands ready to assist the new combined self-regulatory organization toward accomplishing this goal.

“This new entity makes sense as the financial services industry increasingly becomes more global in scope. Today’s announcement serves to underscore the important grassroots investor protection role of state securities regulators. As the combined resources of the regulatory arms of the NASD and NYSE concentrate on international competitiveness and creating efficiencies in national markets, state securities regulators will continue to focus our energies on serving as the local cop on the beat protecting millions of Main Street investors, the backbone of the American economy.

“The state-federal-industry regulatory relationship has a proven record of serving investors well. With more than 100 million investors relying on our securities markets to meet their financial goals – and on regulators to keep those markets well-policed – we will continue to work together to ensure that this complementary regulatory relationship remains as seamless as possible.”

For More Information:
Bob Webster
Director of Communications
202-737-0900