FINRA Review, Investor Choice Act Highlight Arbitration Anomalies
August 5, 2013 by Melanie Waddell, ThinkAdvisor FINRA’s Feinberg says broker expungement under review; new bill prohibits use of mandatory pre-dispute agreements in contracts Two recent initiatives are intended to work in investors’ favor when it comes to the controversial practice of arbitration agreements. First, announced Thursday, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority will review a controversial proposal in arbitration cases that allows brokers to expunge black marks from their record. Second, introduced Aug. 2, is the Investors Choice Act of 2013, a bill intended to ensure that investors have access to the judicial system by prohibiting use of mandatory pre-dispute securities arbitration agreements. Linda Fienberg, president of FINRA’s dispute resolution unit, told a gathering of industry attorneys late Thursday at a New York event held by the Practising Law Institute that FINRA is “looking at...