Proposed Rule Relating to use of the Dispute Resolution Party Portal in Arbitration and Mediation

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) is filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) a proposed rule change to amend the Code of Arbitration Procedure for Customer Disputes (“Customer Code”) and the Code of Arbitration Procedure for Industry Disputes (“Industry Code,” and together with the Customer Code, the “Codes”), to require all parties, except customers who are not represented by an attorney or other person (“pro se customers”), to use the FINRA Office of Dispute Resolution’s Party Portal (“Party Portal”) to file initial statements of claim and to file and serve pleadings and other documents on FINRA or any other party.  Under the proposed rule change, FINRA would require parties to use the Party Portal to file and serve correspondence relating to discovery requests, but would not permit parties to file documents produced in response to discovery requests through the Party Portal.  FINRA is also proposing to amend the Code of Mediation Procedure (“Mediation Code”) to permit mediation parties to agree to use the Party Portal to submit and retrieve all documents and other communications.  In addition, FINRA is revising other provisions in the Codes to conform to existing practice.