NASAA seeks comment on new rules for unpaid arbitration awards

The North American Securities Administrators Association, the group representing state and provincial securities regulators, will put out for public comment a set of proposed model rules covering unpaid arbitration awards and regulatory fines.

The proposed model rules, if adopted, would give NASAA members additional tools to combat the problem of unpaid arbitration awards and fines by broker-dealers and agents or investment advisers and investment adviser representatives licensed in a state.

The proposed model rules would make it an unethical business practice for a broker-dealer, agent, investment adviser or investment adviser representative registered in a jurisdiction to fail to pay an arbitration award or fine entered against the person. The model rules could therefore serve as the basis for enforcement actions by NASAA members against such persons, including license revocation.

Upon the conclusion of the public comment process, the model rules may be presented to the NASAA membership for approval. After that, they could be adopted as new rules or regulations by NASAA members.

According to a recent study by the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association, nearly one out of three customers who won arbitration cases in 2020 did not receive their award payment. PIABA reviewed all publicly available 2020 arbitration awards available on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. website and found that 19 customer awards totaling $5 million went unpaid out of a total of 64 awards and $20.9 million won.

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