Older and seriously ill investors will be able to expedite the adjudication of disputes with their brokers, under rule changes adopted by the U.S. Financial Industry regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA).
The U.S. industry self-regulatory organization is making changes to the rules governing arbitration proceedings — which are the default dispute resolution mechanism in the U.S. brokerage industry — to accelerate proceedings for clients that are older, or facing serious health conditions.
The new procedure, which will take effect March 30, 2026, will set shorter deadlines for completing arbitrations in expedited proceedings, speed up the arbitrator selection process and provide formal guidance to adjudicators on how quickly they should try to complete these proceedings (requiring them to make an award decision within 10 months of the start of a proceeding).
The SRO already has a program that’s supposed to speed up proceedings for certain at-risk investors, but in practice these cases only close “marginally more quickly” than routine cases, FINRA noted. It attributed that to a lack of formal deadlines and the absence of guidance for arbitrators.
In addition to the measures to accelerate certain cases, the reforms also set eligibility requirements for the program — establishing that clients over the age of 70, or those with a medical diagnosis that creates a “reasonable belief” that accelerated processing is needed, can qualify for expedited arbitration.
Panels will also have discretion to expedite proceedings in cases where the investor doesn’t qualify under the age or medical condition requirements — but these cases won’t be subject to the new deadlines being set in the new rule changes.