PIABA selects Andrew Stoltmann as new president

Chicago attorney Andrew Stoltmann has been selected as president of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, replacing outgoing Ohio attorney Marnie Lambert. PIABA is a not-for-profit, voluntary bar association of lawyers who represent claimants in securities and commodities arbitration proceedings and securities litigation. In a release, the group said one of Mr. Stoltmann's top priorities over the next year will be to establish an unpaid arbitration award pool for investors who go through arbitration with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. process, win an award and then don't collect. A 2016 PIABA study found that 25% of awards to investors issued in 2013 went unpaid. PIABA charges Finra with not having made substantive progress in implementing any of the possible solutions the attorney group outlined, and said millions of dollars go unpaid to investors every year. Another major effort will be to "prevent the SEC from watering down the fiduciary duty rule for investors." Other agenda items include making sure that any broker misconduct is not expunged from Finra BrokerCheck records, that the pool of Finra arbitrators be expanded, implementing a ban on non-attorney representation at Finra forums, and encouraging thorough oversight of Finra. Mr. Stoltmann heads Stoltmann Law Offices P.C., which he founded, and is an adjunct securities law professor at Northwestern University School of Law.