Nasdaq Stock Market Abuses

Your excellent editorial regarding the extensive and long-running Nasdaq securities law violations (Aug. 12) overlooks an important subtlety which is probably known only to those of us who have worked in the securities industry.

You suggest that one of the first tasks of the yet-to-be-appointed new chief executive of the National Assn. of Security Dealers “should be some housecleaning.” In fact, this is hardly adequate because those who are “housecleaned” would probably just be given high-level positions at many of the Nasdaq member firms they have befriended over the years.

What, then, is the appropriate remedy? It’s really quite simple. The NASD has the authority to impose a wide range of sanctions on its licensed individual members. These can range from censure to fines to suspensions or even up to being barred from the securities industry. Given the gravity of the violations at issue--after all, these weren’t merely regulators who failed to regulate, they aided and abetted the violations--individual sanctions seem far more appropriate than mere “housecleaning.”

ROBERT A. GRUNBURG

Marina del Rey