Investment banker is named to NASD board of governors.

Investment banker is named to NASD board of governors

Fred M. Roberts, president of the Westwood-based investment banking firm F.M. Roberts & Co., has been elected to a three-year term on the 29-member Board of Governors of the National Association of Securities Dealers.

The NASD is a 6,000-member national trade group of securities brokerages, and also a self-regulatory body. NASD - appointed panels often arbitrate customer complaints against stockbrokers. There are 425,000 stockbrokers and other securities industry professionals registered with NASD.

NASD can fine, discipline or bar stockbrokers or brokerage houses from the industry. NASD, which also runs the NASDAQ computerized trading system for over-the-counter stocks, operates under Securities and Exchange Commission oversight.

The Board of Governors, to which Roberts was elected, is the top policy-making body of NASD.

Roberts said last week he plans to improve the public's perception of the securities industry. But he said he will also scrutinize the NASD arbitration system, the potential problems of short-sellers (investors who bet the price of a stock will go down) and potential problems of televised investment advisers.

"To the extent that problems are real, I want to correct them," said Roberts. "To the extent that problems are only perceived, I want to help correct the misperception."

Roberts will serve on the corporate finance committee of the board. He previously sat on the disciplinary committee of the NASD District Committee, where he pursued penny-stock and syndication problems, Roberts said.

He noted that NASD runs the PORTAL on-line computer system, which facilitates the trading on "private placements" -- stocks and bonds not registered with the SEC.

Improvements in the private placement markets are important in helping to alleviate the shortage of certain kinds of capital, given the contraction of the junk bond and syndication markets, said Roberts.