Financial advisors and brokerage firms need to treat your investments with care. When advisors misuse your funds and put your future at risk, you have the right to hold them accountable for their oversights. You can work with a Minnesota FINRA arbitration lawyer to open an investigation into a brokerage’s inappropriate behavior.
Your efforts can help you recover the funds you need to stabilize your financial future. You’re not working alone, either. Minnesota investment fraud lawyers with Meyer Wilson were recognized by Best Lawyers in 2024 for their outstanding dedication to justice. You can trust our team to prioritize your financial well-being when we take your case.
When Can an Attorney Initiate FINRA Arbitration?
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, operates as a non-profit that oversees the ethical partnerships between clients like you, brokers, and financial professionals. The oversight of this entity ensures that investors like you have the opportunity to hold unethical brokerage firms and advisors accountable for the misuse of your money.
Working within FINRA standards allows you to get justice for your losses without going to court. A FINRA arbitration attorney in Minnesota can instead open mediated conversations between you and a liable party in a private environment. This way, you can avoid spending the money needed to open a civil investigation while you fight to stabilize your investments.
You can count on Meyer Wilson to put you into contact with Minnesota’s:
- Breach of fiduciary duty lawyers
- Failure to supervise lawyers
- Unauthorized trading lawyers
- Inappropriate asset allocation lawyers
- Broker negligence lawyers
What You Need to Know About the Code of Arbitration Procedure
FINRA’S Code of Arbitration Procedure controls how conversations between an unethical brokerage firm or advisor and investors take place. It’s this code that keeps conversations about the misuse of funds out of the civil system. The code also gives FINRA arbitration attorneys specific control over how mediated conversations progress.
You can refer to the code for guidance when the time comes for you to consider action against a party that has inappropriately utilized your investments. Our team can break down the specificities of the code so you can better understand what right FINRA gives you to recover.
Your FINRA Arbitration Recovery Timeline
While there’s no set timeline applied to FINRA arbitration cases, you can expect to conclude mediations with an unethical party within a year and a half of beginning those conversations. In that time, you can expect your Minnesota FINRA arbitration attorney to set up regular, controlled conversations with a liable party.
Our team does not allow brokerage firms or advisors to talk their way out of repaying your investments. We continually refocus conversations on the losses you sustained when trusting a firm with your money. Moreover, we hold these conversations privately.
The exact timeline of your case will vary depending on the receptiveness of a liable party and the size of the case in question. You can discuss what to expect from upcoming arbitration when you meet with our team for a free case consultation.
Filing a Statement to Kick Off Arbitration
You can’t begin FINRA arbitration without first filing a statement of claim. If you ask a Minnesota FINRA arbitration lawyer to create your claim, you can expect them to elaborate on:
- The nature of your investments
- The fraud or misconduct that led you to suspect negligence
- Evidence of that negligence
- Evidence of the economic impact that negligence has had on your finances
Once you have enough evidence to prove that a liable party engaged in financial misconduct, you can pay a filing fee to submit your claim. An arbitration panel will then consider your findings and determine whether or not you can move your case forward. You can expect a response from the party you named liable in your claim within 45 days of filing.
Small Claims Versus Large Claims
There are three types of claims you can bring forward during FINRA arbitration:
- Minor claims, which involve accusations of fraud addressing less than $50,000 in assets
- Small claims, which involve accusations of fraud addressing more than $50,000 but less than $100,000 in assets
- Large claims, which involve accusations of fraud addressing more than $100,000 in assets
Wrapping Up FINRA Arbitration
Neither you nor the parties involved in your arbitration have the right to appeal the decision made at the end of a claims process. You will receive a record going into detail about:
- The parties involved in the arbitration process
- The fraud that initiated the arbitration process
- How the party accused of fraud responded to those accusations
- What compensation, if any, you received in the process
This process allows the panel to create a written record declaring the size of the award you received from the arbitration process. Information about the size of your award will become available to the public, but the rest of the information about your case will remain private.
If arbitration determines that another party owes you a reward, that party has 30 days from the conclusion of mediation to provide you with those funds. Parties that fail to do so put their brokerage licenses at risk. You can count on our team to represent you in the post-arbitration process and to act on your behalf if necessary.
Contact a Minnesota FINRA Arbitration Attorney Today
If an advisor or brokerage compromised your funds, you can get the support you need through FINRA arbitration. Minnesota attorneys with Meyer Wilson can put over 75 years of legal experience to work for you as we fight to reclaim the money you lost. Our mediation services allow you to recover those damages without the fuss of going through the civil process.
If you’re ready to learn more about the means our team uses to help you get your finances back on track, contact us now. Your consultation with our team comes free of charge.