FINRA hires Dean to lead government affairs

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced last week that Gregory Dean, Jr. will take over as senior vice president for the Office of Government Affairs, effective Jan. 30.

Dean, who will lead FINRA’s government affairs activities, joins FINRA from the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) where he is senior director, regulatory and government affairs.

“I am excited about this opportunity to help share with Congress and others the vital work FINRA does every day to protect investors and to ensure that they can invest with confidence in America’s financial markets. I look forward to working with Robert and the entire FINRA team,” Dean said.

Prior to joining RBC in 2015, Dean served in various roles in congress. He was chief counsel for three different senate committees — Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions as well as Budget Committees.

Dean has also worked as staff director for the Securities Subcommittee of the Senate Banking Committee and was finance counsel for the U.S. House Committee on Small Business and the Banking Counsel for the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He worked as an attorney at the Office of the General Counsel and U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy.  

“We are delighted Greg is joining FINRA, and he will play a key role in our senior management team. Greg’s expertise and wide range of experience working in both houses of Congress, the federal government and the private sector make him uniquely qualified to lead the government affairs function at FINRA. And his experience working to promote small business will be exceptionally valuable in helping FINRA advance new initiatives in this area,” Robert Cook, FINRA president and CEO, said.