Finra has expanded its pool of arbitrators and is ready to move forward with the hundreds of complaints related to collapses in Puerto Rico bond funds, according to an announcement posted on its web site Monday.
After several months of deliberation, Finra said it will resume processing investor complaints now that it has about 700 arbitrators from Southeastern U.S. and Texas who are willing to fly to Puerto Rico.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. has also resolved issues related to the language barrier as UBS AG and Bank of America Merrill Lynch agreed to pay fees for translators.
“I'm confident that we will have enough arbitrators and enough staff that we will be able to process those that go forward,” said Linda Fienberg, the president of dispute resolution at Finra.
(See also: Finra freezes new arbitration cases in Puerto Rico)
Finra, which had received around 200 complaints from investors, had stopped assigning arbitrators to new cases and was trying to determine how it would address a number of challenges, including the language barrier and the fact that there were only nine arbitrators in Puerto Rico.
One month ago, the regulator said it had heard from only 60 arbitrators on the mainland who said they would be open to flying to Puerto Rico to hear
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