FINRA announced today that its pilot program will be expanded to 14 broker dealers and 411 cases, this being an expansion from 11 broker dealers and 276 cases. The pilot program is an experiment relating to the composition of the arbitration panel used in FINRA cases. In cases that require three arbitrators, the arbitration panel is typically composed of two public arbitrators (those that have no connection to the securities industry) and one industry arbitrator (an individual with employment history within the securities industry). However, in pilot program cases all three of the arbitrators are public arbitrators.
The pilot program began on Oct. 6, 2008, with investors having the choice of whether they wished to participate in the program or not. FINRA hopes that by increasing the amount of broker dealer firms and cases involved, a better analysis of using three public arbitrators will result at the completion of the pilot program.
The new firms joining the pilot program include Chase Investment Services Corp., Oppenheimer & Co., and Raymond James Financial Services Inc/Raymond James & Associates Inc.
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