The Federal Reserve prohibited Brenda Fuson, formerly of Regions Bank in Birmingham, Alabama, from the banking industry for misappropriating customer funds, the CFTC appointed its first Director of the Division of Data and Chief Data Officer, and the SEC issued 28 announcements — the highest single-day count this month — across 92 total events.

Regions Bank Employee Banned from Banking

The Federal Reserve issued a prohibition order against Brenda Fuson, affiliated with Regions Bank in Birmingham, for misappropriation of customer funds. The order, based in Sandy, Utah, represents the fourth individual banking prohibition of the month — joining three earlier bans issued on March 9 including one at Equity Bank for the same violation.

The pattern of multiple misappropriation-based prohibitions in a single month suggests that federal banking regulators are processing a pipeline of individual misconduct cases that may share common investigative origins. Misappropriation of customer funds is one of the most clear-cut violations in banking law and almost always results in a permanent prohibition.

Regions Financial Corporation is one of the 20 largest banks in the United States by assets. When a large institution like Regions appears in a prohibition order, it draws scrutiny to the bank's internal controls even though the action targets an individual employee.

CFTC Creates Chief Data Officer Role

CFTC Chairman Selig announced the appointment of Jessica Harris as Director of the Division of Data and Chief Data Officer — a new leadership position that signals the agency's prioritization of data-driven regulation. The creation of a dedicated CDO role at the CFTC reflects the growing importance of data analytics in market surveillance, enforcement, and regulatory policy.

This is the fourth senior appointment Chairman Selig has made in March, following the Directors of International Affairs, Legislative Affairs, and Enforcement. The pace of leadership installation suggests the Chairman is moving quickly to assemble the team needed to execute a new regulatory agenda.

SEC Issues 28 Announcements

The SEC processed 28 announcements — including exchange filings, rule interpretations, and administrative proceedings — in the busiest single-day output from the Commission this month. High-volume SEC announcement days typically reflect batch processing of routine filings and comment period closures that accumulate during the business week.

17 RIA Graduations Lead Advisory Activity

Seventeen advisory firms completed their SEC registration — the highest single-day graduation count in March, topping the previous record of 16 set on March 14. Three firms failed the 120-day process. Nine disclosure events were recorded across the advisory vertical.

The graduation pipeline shows no signs of slowing as March approaches its final week. The cumulative total of new RIA registrations for the month now exceeds 200, putting March 2026 on pace as one of the strongest months for new advisory firm formation on record.

FINRA Updates on Regulatory Notices and CAT

FINRA published Regulatory Notice 25-17 and the CAT (Consolidated Audit Trail) announced that its email address is changing, along with the February 2026 Industry Member Transaction and CAIS Report Cards. The CAT report cards provide member firms with feedback on their data submission quality — a metric that FINRA and the SEC use to assess compliance with audit trail reporting requirements.

Across the Wire

Twenty-four FOCUS reports were filed with the SEC. The OCC approved three branch establishments and processed one corporate action. One DBA addition was filed at the broker-dealer level. The day was light on broker-dealer personnel changes, consistent with Sunday processing patterns.

All data sourced from Federal Reserve, CFTC, SEC, FINRA, OCC, and the Finleet Terminal as of March 16, 2026. Entity profiles are available at terminal.finleet.com.