SEC Approves Amendments to the Codes of Arbitration Procedure to Increase the Fees Assessed for Late Cancellation or Postponement of a Hearing

The Code of Arbitration Procedure for Customer Disputes (Customer Code) and the Code of Arbitration Procedure for Industry Disputes (Industry Code) (together, codes) govern the payments that FINRA makes to its arbitrators for the services they provide to FINRA’s dispute resolution forum, as well as the fees assessed to the parties for arbitration proceedings. FINRA has amended Rules 12214(a), 12601(b)(2), 13214(a) and 13601(b)(2) to require that if one or more parties request a postponement or cancellation within 10 days before a scheduled hearing session and the arbitrators grant the request, the party or parties making the request would pay a late cancellation fee of $600 per-arbitrator. The amendments are effective for arbitration cases filed on or after July 6, 2015. The extended cancellation period and the increased late cancellation fee would not apply to parties