FINRA to handle NYSE market surveillance

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a nongovernmental regulator, has agreed to take on all New York Stock Exchange surveillance in a regulatory shuffle meant to streamline U.S. market oversight.

FINRA is expected to "assume responsibility for performing the market surveillance and enforcement functions" of NYSE Regulation, the Big Board's in-house oversight body, by the end of next month, FINRA and exchange operator NYSE Euronext said on Tuesday in a joint statement.

The change comes as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission conducts a probe of the stock and options marketplace to ensure its high-tech transformation over the last decade does not disadvantage long-term investors.

A key criticism of the complex market is the lack of a single surveillance body to oversee the more than 50 electronic exchanges and trading venues.

"This unified view will better enable regulators to detect problematic activity across multiple markets and financial products, and ensures that audit trail data needed for effective regulation is complete, consistently presented and transparent," FINRA Chief Executive Richard Ketchum, former head of NYSE Regulation, said in the statement.

FINRA now oversees exchanges run by Nasdaq OMX Group Inc, BATS Global Markets and the International Securities Exchange. It will now also handle the NYSE, NYSE Arca and NYSE Amex.

(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; editing by John Wallace)