FINRA to Open All Hearing Locations on Aug. 2

By Melanie Waddell

News June 07, 2021 at 09:31 AM

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The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Friday that starting on Aug. 2, all FINRA dispute resolution hearing locations will be open for in-person hearings.

In mid-May, FINRA announced that 62 of 69 hearing locations would be open for in-person hearings starting July 5.

In-person proceedings at the following hearing locations are postponed through July 30: Augusta, Maine; Boca Raton, Florida; Buffalo, New York; Detroit; Philadelphia; Providence, Rhode Island; and Wilmington, Delaware.

As of April 30, 296 arbitration cases have conducted one or more hearings via Zoom (113 customer cases and 183 industry cases).

There are 277 total joint motions for virtual hearings, 98 in customer cases and 179 in industry cases, according to FINRA.

"The safety and well-being of parties, arbitrators, witnesses and other participants is of paramount importance," Richard Berry, FINRA's executive vice president and director of Dispute Resolution Services, said in announcing the change.

In late April, FINRA announced that due to COVID-19, it had postponed all in-person arbitration and mediation proceedings scheduled through July 3.

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