Reporting to chairman and CEO Richard Ketchum, Randich will oversee technology and the registration and disclosure division when he joins the watchdog on 11 March.

The new man has spent the last seven years with Citigroup, most recently in the dual role of co-CIO, Citi and CIO and global head of technology for the bank's institutional clients group.

He joined Citi in 2005 from Nasdaq, where he served as EVP, operations and technology and CIO. Between 1996 and 2000 he held a similar role at the Chicago Stock Exchange and has also been a managing principal at IBM Global Services.

Says Ketchum: "Throughout his career, Steve has combined superb leadership and technological skills with strong market and industry knowledge to earn a terrific reputation for working with business clients to identify and respond to priority technology issues.

"Together, these strengths make Steve ideally qualified to lead our technology team on our many important initiatives-including the continued rollout of the new exam technology platform, enhancements to CRD/BrokerCheck and development of Finra's response to the consolidated audit trail (CAT) request for proposal."

Finra on Tuesday issued an RFP seeking a stand-alone contractor to build and manage the consolidated audit trail, which will consist of a data repository that is capable of receiving, consolidating and retaining a record of all transaction relating to each order from receipt or origination through execution and/or cancellation. Potential candidates must submit their bid by 25 April with selection set to take place early next year.