The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has stepped up efforts to diversify its pool of arbitrators over the past two years, newly released data show, and its efforts are slowly and steadily showing results.
Female arbitrators now comprise 25% of the total arbitrator pool, and representation of other minorities is growing as well.
The newly released 2017 data on the arbitrator pools' diversity shows a small increase in several categories. Nearly 600 new arbitrators were added between October 2016 and October 2017.
For instance, of the new arbitrators added in from October 2016 to October 2017, 35% were women, up from 33% a year earlier and 26% two years earlier.
New arbitrators added last year of African-American descent stood at 15%, bringing their total to 6% in the 7,304-member arbitration pool. In the year ending in 2015, 4% of new arbitrators were African-American.
Two percent of the total pool of arbitrators are Asian, with 4% of new arbitrators added in 2017 being Asian.
Of the arbitrators added in 2017, 1% were American Indian or Alaskan and 4% were multiracial.
FINRA published data on the diversity of its arbitrator pool on its website for the first time last September after receiving complaints that its panels were skewed toward older men and that transparency on arbitrators' backgrounds was lacking.
