FINRA Chairman and CEO Richard 'Rick' Ketchum is a gentleman and a fine individual, and his statement in response to the SEC's "regulatory" action was appropriate and comprehensive.  Except for, perhaps, these few issues:

1. what ever became of the director who altered documents in the 2008 inspection?
2. how did FINRA management learn that documents submitted to SEC inspectors in 2008 had been altered?
3. how is it that this same FINRA office (then NASD) provided altered or misleading documents to SEC staff on 3 occasions over an 8-year period?
4. was FINRA management aware of this pattern of violations?  and do they know whether the same individual had served as the office director for each occurrence?  and, if so, why did they allow this director to remain in that position?

1. and 2.   Office Director and Whistleblower. Mr. Ketchum says that FINRA has appointed "new leadership in our Kansas City office" and instituted a number of changes to strengthen its internal procedures.  But it is only from SEC Administrative Proceeding 3-14605 that we learn the Director's fate.  Here's the text:

FINRA learned of the Kansas City District’s document integrity issues through a whistleblower complaint submitted on June 11, 2010.  Using FINRA’s EthicsPoint System, an anonymous individual alleged that the Director instructed another FINRA employee to alter Staff Meeting Minutes before they were burned to a CD and provided to the Commission in connection with an oversight inspection of the District Office.  Within days of receiving the complaint, FINRA initiated an internal investigation led by its Internal Audit staff.  Also, FINRA’s Internal Audit staff verbally communicated the whistleblower allegations to FINRA’s Audit Committee on July 13, 2010.

Based on Internal Audit’s findings, the Director tendered his resignation from FINRA on September 20, 2010.  That same day, FINRA sent a letter notifying staff from the Commission’s Chicago Regional Office and its Division of Enforcement about the Director’s conduct. Internal Audit reported the results of its investigation to FINRA’s Audit Committee on September 21, 2010.

3. and 4.   Alterations of Documents Prior to 2008. Again we look to the SEC's order to learn that FINRA employees produced altered misleading documents to SEC inspectors during 2004 - (when an NASD director misled Commission examiners) and in 2005, when misleading documents, purportedly intended for internal use only, were produced to SEC inspectors. Fortunately, it's noted that NASD took corrective actions to address these specific failures. However, those corrective actions were temporary, at best, as the 2008 incident demonstrates.  While it's unclear who headed the Kansas City office in 2004 and 2005, it is probable that the 2008 director was not in the position on at those earlier dates.