FINRA Proposes Fees for Late Cancellation of Prehearing Conferences

FINRA proposed a rule change with the SEC to implement fees for the late cancellation of a prehearing conference ("conference").

According to the proposal, if a party or parties to a FINRA arbitration cancels three business days before a scheduled conference, they will incur (i) a $100 per-arbitration fee and (ii) a $100 honorarium for each arbitrator that was scheduled to attend the conference. In the event that an extraordinary circumstance prevents a party or parties from making a timely cancellation request, the arbitrator(s) may use discretion to waive the fee, provided a written explanation of such circumstance is received.

The effective date of this proposed rule change will be 30 days after FINRA publishes the Regulatory Notice.