July 30, 2007
The rule is a good beginning towards bringing fairness to the Arbitration Process and it should be adopted. But empowering the NASD, an exclusive membership organization controlled by an investment industry with incestuous quasi-governmental authority simply corrupts the dispute resolution process ab initio. This rule if adopted, still leaves unchanged the Industry's "chilling" right to deny fairness to public investors by sanctioning indusry strikes of public arbitrators on a hearing by hearing basis. If the NASD capably screens its public arbitrators there should be no basis to give the industry another bite of the apple with peremptory strikes.