Law Commons^™

Working Toward Fair Treatment For Retail Investors, Barbara Black

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Twenty years ago, in Shearson/American Express, Inc. v. McMahon, the Supreme Court held that brokerage firms could require their customers to arbitrate all their disputes in industry-sponsored fora - a decision that had great significance for the law of arbitration as well as securities regulation. In 1996, a blue-ribbon task force released its report, assessing the securities arbitration process at National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD), the principal securities arbitration forum, and the report led to several symposia on the topic coinciding with the tenth anniversary of McMahon. Since then, arbitration scholars and practitioners have intensified the debate over …