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SEC Approves FINRA Rule to Prohibit Conditioning Settlements on Expungement

On July 23, 2014, FINRA announced that the SEC had approved a new rule prohibiting firms and registered representatives from conditioning settlement of a customer dispute on—or otherwise compensating a customer for—the customer’s agreement to consent to, or not to oppose, the firm’s or representative’s request to expunge such information from the Central Registration Depository (CRD™) system.

FINRA operates the CRD system, which is an online registration and licensing system for the securities industry. The CRD system contains information regarding members and registered representatives, such as personal, registration and employment history, as well as disclosure information including criminal matters, regulatory and disciplinary actions, civil judicial actions, and information relating to customer complaints and disputes. The information FINRA makes public through BrokerCheck is derived from CRD. Brokers who wish to have a customer dispute removed from the CRD system and, thereby, from BrokerCheck, must obtain a court order confirming an arbitration award recommending expungement relief.