More “Disclosure Events” Removed from BrokerCheck

There’s a decided increase in the number of broker complaints that are being expunged from FINRA’s BrokerCheck records. In 2009 state regulators received 110 requests to have disclosure events (which include details of customer complaints, regulatory actions, settlements, bankruptcies, liens, criminal histories, changes of employment) removed from public view. In 2012 that number rose to 519, or about 12% of new cases filed that year.

This leaves investor advocates concerned about the impact to clients who rely on BrokerCheck to help assess their broker’s histories, especially because mandatory arbitration does not leave the same public paper trail as court proceedings.

(New York Times Dealbook section at dealbook.nytimes.com)