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Another day and another court is forced to ponder an imponderable FINRA Arbitration Award. In today's installment, a federal court read the record of the denial of an expungement claim but can't discern "any basis on which the FINRA panel could have rested its decision." Not a glowing endorsement of FINRA's mandatory arbitration protocol. And as our publisher Bill Singer angrily notes, not a glowing endorsement of FINRA's lackluster and apparently lackadaisical Board of Governors. At what point does even one FINRA Governor stand up for fairness and due process?
The nice thing about saying nothing is that it makes it difficult to put words in your mouth. All of which may be a commendable way to keep the peace. When it comes to judge's ruling on matters of fact and law, biting one's tongue fails to develop a useful record on appeal. A decision is supposed to resolve the dispute, not leave the allegations suspended in the air and open to further interpretation. A recent FINRA customer arbitration shows what happens when arbitrators take "summary" too literally.