Wall Street Plays Dr. Jekyll to Avoid Courtrooms: Susan Antilla

When duped investors set out to make themselves whole after a fleecing by a broker, the American way is to hustle them off to a private court run by Wall Street. It’s a tradition that was set in stone when the Supreme Court in 1987 said that, if an investor signed an agreement to arbitrate, the sorry loser is out of luck if he ever wants a day in court.

Brokers have enjoyed having a say in the management of their own justice system ever since then, even getting to stack every three-person jury with an investment professional. So you’ve got to wonder what’s going on when regulators at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, whose paychecks come from Wall Street, are all of a sudden recommending something that would benefit investors in Finra’s courts: the option to have a panel that excludes brokerage employees.