Lecturer Bios
Brooks Brown
Brooks Brown joined FINRA’s New Orleans District Office in 2001, and then transferred to FINRA’s Atlanta District Office in 2006. Mr. Brown assumed the role of Associate District Director in July 2015 and is responsible for overseeing the office’s cycle examination program. Previously, as an Examination Manager, Mr. Brown supervised five staff members who conduct cycle examinations to review for compliance with FINRA and SEC rules.
Prior to joining FINRA, Mr. Brown worked with Trustmark National Bank in Jackson, Mississippi from 1999 to 2001 as an equity analyst in Trustmark’s Trust Department. Mr. Brown earned the Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional™ designation from the Wharton School in 2013. Mr. Brown is a graduate of Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, and he also earned an M.B.A. from Millsaps College’s Else School of Management.
Christine Kieffer
Christine Kieffer is Senior Director of FINRA’s Office of Investor Education with 25+ years of investor education experience. She directs innovative research, professional training, and consumer outreach initiatives that help Americans build financial stability, invest for life goals, and guard against financial fraud and exploitation.
Christine manages the FINRA Investor Education Foundation’s investor protection, fraud prevention, and victim assistance initiatives, as well as the military financial readiness project. She serves on advisory boards to the National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA) and the Cybercrime Support Network. Between 2007-2015, Christine supported FINRA’s CEO on the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability. She has also led the production of two public television documentaries on financial decision making.
Thinking Money: The Psychology Behind Our Best and Worst Financial Decisions—produced by Rocket Media Group, LLC in association with the FINRA Foundation and Maryland Public Television—is available for streaming via PBS OnDemand. Christine holds a Bachelor of Science from Vanderbilt University with double majors in Economics and Mathematics.
Bismarck Prado
Bismarck Prado currently serves as Director of Fraud & Senior Investor Protection within the Legal & Risk division at Commonwealth Financial Network.
In this leadership role, he oversees the firm’s fraud prevention and investor protection strategies, with a strong focus on safeguarding older clients from scams and financial exploitation.
Bismarck is a recognized voice in the industry. He has spoken at major events such as the FINRA Annual Conference (May 2025) and the SIFMA/NAPSA World Elder Abuse Awareness Day webinar (June 2025), discussing topics including cryptocurrency fraud, AI-augmented phishing, impersonation scams, and elder abuse prevention.
His contributions include educating financial advisors and development of industry guidance for identifying and responding to fraud targeting senior investors.
