From Securities Arbitration Blawg:
FINRA recently reported its September 2009 arbitration statistics. As of September 30, 2009, 5,545 claims were filed, compared to only 3,471 as of September 30, 2008, an increase of 60%. FINRA also reported that 3,196 cases were closed through September and that the average turnaround time for cases that go to an arbitration hearing has declined by 9% (14.5 months from 16.0 months).
The most frequent claims/controversies involved continue to be breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation/fraud, negligence, and …

On October 5, 2009, FINRA reported that it will expand its “pilot” program that allows investors who file eligible claims to select an arbitration panel that consists of three “public” arbitrators, rather than the traditional panel comprised of two “public” arbitrators and one “non-public” arbitrator.
To accomplish this, FINRA has expanded the program to include cases against the following 14 broker-dealers (from 11 broker-dealers):

Chase Investment Services (10 cases);
Oppenheimer & Co. (15 cases);
Raymond James Financial Services/Raymond James & Associates (10 cases);
Citigroup Global …

From SecuritiesArbitrationBlawg.com:
US News & World Report published an article today written by Rob Silverblatt. The article was entitled “Could Arbitration Help You Recover Investment Losses.” The author interviewed several attorneys who practice in the area (unfortunately, the author of this blog was not one of them) and discussed patterns and trends in securities arbitration filings. The article also noted the fact that concerns related to the arbitration process have caused politicians to push the Arbitration Fairness Act (AFA) through Congress. …

From SecuritiesArbitrationBlawg.com:
Helen Kearney, of bankinvestmentconsultant.com recently reported that as of August 2009, more arbitration claims had been filed than in all of 2009. Although there was a slight downturn in the number of claims filed in August, it is unclear whether this trend will continue.
In large part, the number of claims will likely depend on what happens in the markets over the next few months. In addition, there are different types of investments that have been the subject of significant …

From Securities Arbitration Blawg:
According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), securities arbitration claims are on the rise in 2009. In fact, according to FINRA’s June Summary Arbitration Statistics, the self-regulatory organization anticipates that 56% more cases will be filed during the year, as compared to 2008 and that during the first six months of 2009, 82% more cases had been filed as during the same period in the previous year. During this same period, FINRA reports that fewer cases …