FINRA IMPROVING FAIRNESS BY RECRUITING MORE FEMALE ARBITRATORS
According to the director of the Office of Dispute Resolution, Richard Berry, FINRA is increasing efforts to enroll female arbitrators for its independent arbitration forum to boost representation and make the procedure fairer.
The arbitrator diversity efforts have pushed constant growth in the recruitment of female arbitrators. As a result the enrolment of female arbitrators has risen from 26% of the newly added arbitrators in 2015 to 39% in 2019.
However, Berry says he’s “just not satisfied with where we are with this demographic.” Speaking from experience, since he made arbitrator diversity one of his primary concerns in 2015.
Plans of Diversity Across All Female Factions Attracts Potential Backlash From Men
This year, FINRA is determined to work on relationships it has developed with various women’s factions, like the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority among other factions.
When Berry was asked if the priority on enrolling female arbitrators would be a disadvantage on efforts to enlist other minorities, like African-Americans or Latinos, Berry said the efforts will be strengthened.
“So, we might have a group of women attorneys who are Hispanic or we might have a group of African-American accountants that are women,” Berry says
However, Berry is far from being worried about the possible backlash among white males that speculate diversity recruits are detrimental to them.
"You’re never going to please everybody. But I think focusing on what’s right and fair is what I’ll do, no matter what the backlash is. And having a diverse set of arbitrators is the right thing to do.”
Berry also notes that white males still make up the largest numbers of the arbitrators in FINRA’s arbitration forum.
As of the end of December, FINRA had 7,839 arbitrators.
“We have a long way to go; we’re not there yet,” Berry says, relating to his ultimate diversity goals.
Public arbitrators are not expected to have specialized proficiency in the securities industry. Non-public arbitrators have either toiled in the financial industry or delivered services to financial industry customers or to groups engaged in securities arbitration and litigation.
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