Securities and Exchange Commission
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Securities and Exchange Commission [Release No. 34-98317; File No. SR-FINRA-2022-033] September 7, 2023. I. Introduction On December 23, 2022, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”), pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”)  [ 1 ] and Rule 19b-4 thereunder, [ 2 ] a proposed rule change to amend the Code of Arbitration Procedure for Customer Disputes  [ 3 ] (“Customer Code”) and the Code of Arbitration Procedure for Industry Disputes  [ 4 ] (“Industry Code”) (together, “Codes”). The proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 1 (defined below), would amend provisions of the Codes governing the arbitrator list-selection process to: (1) exclude arbitrators from the arbitrator ranking lists based on certain conflicts of interest;  [ 5 ] (2) permit the removal of an arbitrator for cause at any point after receipt of the arbitrator ranking lists until the first hearing session begins;  [ 6 ] and (3) provide parties with a written explanation of the decision by the Director of FINRA Dispute Resolution Services (“DRS Director”)  [ 7 ] to grant or deny a request to remove an arbitrator. [ 8 ] In addition, the proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 1, would amend procedural rules in the Codes, s…
Citation: 88 FR 62835
