Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> SECLaw.com

Criminal Law

: SECLaw.com

FINRA Proposes to Drop Industry Arbitrator Requirement

By Mark H. Astarita, Esq.

FINRA announced on Tuesday that it is going to propose a rule change which will permit investors in all cases filed with the agency to choose to have their claim decided by a panel of three public arbitrators. Currently, arbitration panels at FINRA are comprised of two public arbitrators and one arbitrator that has some connection to the financial industry.Quite honestly, this is all much ado about nothing. There was a time when an industry arbitrator was beneficial to the process. However, during recent years, as FINRA changed the rules so appease investors, the definition of an industry arbitrator has become so expansive as to be meaningless in many cases. Clerks, runners, and secretaries who work at brokerage firms are considered industry arbitrators, and while they do a fine job, they do not offer any industry knowledge to the arbitration panel because of their industry "affiliation...continue to full post

Full post as published by SECLaw.com on September 29, 2010 (boomark / email).