Lecturer Bios
Amy C. Sochard
Amy C. Sochard is the Senior Director in FINRA’s Advertising Regulation Department. The department protects investors by ensuring broker-dealer members of FINRA use advertisements and other sales communications that are fair, balanced and not misleading. Ms. Sochard leads the department’s investigative and targeted examination activities. She also serves as liaison to other FINRA departments involved in examinations, including the departments of Enforcement and Member Regulation.
In addition, Ms. Sochard oversees staff dedicated to the routine review of advertisements and other sales communications filed with the department by broker-dealers. Ms. Sochard assists in the development of rules and interpretations for communications with the public and social media, and she routinely speaks at industry events on these topics. Prior to joining FINRA’s predecessor (NASD),
Ms. Sochard worked with a real estate syndication firm in Washington, DC. She received a bachelor’s degree with distinction in English from the University of Virginia and studied poetry writing at Columbia University.
Cynthia Friedlander
Cynthia Friedlander is the Director of Fixed Income Regulation within FINRA Member Regulation. Ms. Friedlander is responsible for directing FINRA’s policies and national programs related to fixed income securities, including related regulatory matters in FINRA District Offices. Specifically, she is responsible for the design, development and delivery of fixed income policy guidance to staff throughout FINRA, as well as to member firms, and is one of FINRA’s primary representatives in fixed income regulatory matters with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Ms. Friedlander represents FINRA at government agency, SRO, and industry and advisory meetings, and is a staff liaison to FINRA’s Fixed Income Committee. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a master of business administration from George Mason University.
Rebecca Knutson
Rebecca Knutson is the senior principal analyst in FINRA’s Advertising Regulation Department. She came to NASD/FINRA in 1998 after spending more than a dozen years with a regional broker dealer, Johnston, Lemon & Co. Incorporated, as a registered representative and member of the firm’s municipal trading desk. Ms. Knutson is a CPA, and has an MBA from Johns Hopkins University, with a concentration in information systems management.
Pamela Ellis, Esq.
Pamela Ellis is Associate General Counsel for the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. She provides legal expertise and support associated with the development of regulations governing municipal market professionals, including dealers and municipal advisors. Before joining the MSRB, Ms. Ellis was counsel at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP (Sutherland), where she worked for more than 15 years. At Sutherland, she advised financial institutions on the organization and operation of Section 529 college tuition savings plans; she also advised financial institutions on the development, disclosure, and administration of innovative life insurance products, including variable, indexed and fixed products. Further, Ms. Ellis served on the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the Division of Investment Management. Ms. Ellis earned an A.B. from Wellesley College as a Wellesley College Scholar with Honors in Political Science and a juris doctor from Vanderbilt University School of Law.