On January 30, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority filed a proposed rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt amendments to FINRA Rules 12600 and 12800 of the Code of Arbitration Procedures for Customer Disputes (Customer Code) and FINRA Rules 13600 and 13800 of the Code of Arbitration Procedure for Industry Disputes (Industry Code).

The proposed rule change will amend the provisions of the Customer Code and Industry Code to provide an additional hearing option for parties in arbitration with claims of $50,000 or less, excluding interest and expenses. It will give the applicable parties, under both the Customer Code and the Industry Code, the ability to choose between (1) arbitration under the current provisions or (2) a special proceeding held by telephone (or another method agreed to by the parties) and limited in time.

FINRA’s proposed rule change is available here.