FINRA Now Fast-Tracks Arbitration for Investors 70 and Older or Seriously Ill

If you are 70 or older, or facing a serious medical diagnosis, and a broker’s recommendations cost you money, a FINRA rule change that took effect this year is worth your attention. In Regulatory Notice 25-18, FINRA announced amendments to its arbitration rules that put cases brought by older and seriously ill investors on a shorter, rules-based timeline.

What the Notice Requires

According to Regulatory Notice 25-18, dated December 9, 2025, FINRA adopted amendments “to accelerate the processing of arbitration proceedings for parties who qualify based on their age or health condition.” The changes add new Rules 12808 and 13808 to FINRA’s arbitration codes and are “effective for arbitration cases filed on or after March 30, 2026.”

There are two ways to qualify. The first is age. The Notice states that a party may ask for accelerated processing when filing a claim or an answer if the party “is at least 70 years of age at the time of the request.” The second is health. A party qualifies by certifying that “(i) the party has received a medical diagnosis and prognosis, and (ii) based on that medical diagnosis and prognosis, the party has a reasonable belief that accelerated processing of the case is necessary to prevent prejudicing the party’s interest in the arbitration.” According to the Notice, the party does not have to disclose the details of the diagnosis with that certification.

FINRA’s Director of Dispute Resolution Services decides eligibility, and the Notice says that decision is “an objective determination as to whether the requesting party is at least 70 years of age or has submitted the required certification regarding an eligible health condition.”

Once a case qualifies, the biggest change is a target end date. The Notice states that “the panel must endeavor to render an award within 10 months of the date the Director determines that a case is subject to accelerated processing.” The panel has to hold a prehearing conference and set a schedule built around that 10-month target.

Regulatory Notice 25-18 also shortens the default deadlines that apply to the parties. A respondent’s answer is due within 30 days instead of 45. Parties return ranked arbitrator lists within 10 days instead of 20. In customer cases, the standard document production is due within 35 days instead of 60, and responses to other discovery requests are due within 30 days instead of 60, unless the parties agree otherwise.

Investors who don’t meet either test still have an option. The Notice says they can ask the panel to consider “other factors, including a party’s age and health,” when it sets the schedule, although those cases don’t get the shortened rules-based deadlines.

Background

FINRA already had an expedited program before this change. According to the Notice, it covered parties who “have a serious health condition or are at least 65 years old,” and FINRA staff sped up the tasks they controlled, like arbitrator selection and serving the award. The problem was that the program set no deadlines for the parties and gave arbitrators no target date. FINRA’s own assessment is blunt: “cases that qualify for the current program close only marginally more quickly than cases that are not in the current program.”

The new rules move the age line from 65 to 70, but in exchange they add real deadlines and a 10-month target for the award. For an investor in their late 70s or 80s, the difference between a case that ends in under a year and one that runs considerably longer matters a great deal.

These cases are often about elder financial abuse in some form: unsuitable recommendations of illiquid or high-risk products to retirees who needed income and safety, churning of a retiree’s account, or unauthorized trading in an account the customer relied on the broker to manage.

Why This Matters for Investors

The rule change doesn’t alter what a broker owes a customer. That standard comes from SEC Regulation Best Interest, which requires a broker-dealer making a recommendation to a retail customer to “act in the best interest of the retail customer at the time the recommendation is made, without placing the financial or other interest of the broker, dealer, or natural person who is an associated person of a broker or dealer making the recommendation ahead of the interest of the retail customer” (SEC Release No. 34-86031). FINRA Rule 2111 governs recommendations made before June 30, 2020. FINRA Rule 3110 requires firms to supervise their brokers, and a firm’s failure to supervise can be a claim in its own right.

Regulatory Notice 25-18 is a procedural rule change. It does not accuse any firm of anything, and it doesn’t make any claim stronger or weaker on the merits. What it changes is time. Eligible investors can ask for the faster track when they file, so the request belongs in the case from day one.

The rule also doesn’t recover anyone’s money by itself. An investor who lost money because of a broker’s recommendations still has to bring a claim against the brokerage firm, and still has to prove it. The accelerated track means an older or seriously ill investor is more likely to get a decision while it can still make a difference.

Steps to Take Right Now

1. Gather your account statements, trade confirmations, and any correspondence with your broker or firm, including emails, texts, and written materials about the investments.
2. Look up your broker on FINRA BrokerCheck at brokercheck.finra.org to review their full disclosure record.
3. Contact a securities arbitration attorney for a consultation to evaluate your options.

Talk to Rosenberger + Kawabata

Rosenberger + Kawabata represents retail investors in FINRA arbitration proceedings involving broker misconduct against senior and seriously ill investors. Contact Rosenberger + Kawabata online for a free and confidential consultation, or call (310) 894-6921.

Sources

The information in this post comes from FINRA’s published guidance. You can read FINRA Regulatory Notice 25-18, “FINRA Adopts Amendments to the Arbitration Codes to Accelerate the Processing of Arbitration Proceedings for Parties Who Qualify Based on Their Age or Health Condition,” here. The Regulation Best Interest language comes from the SEC’s adopting release, Release No. 34-86031.

This post discusses a FINRA Regulatory Notice. A Regulatory Notice announces guidance or a rule change. It is not a disciplinary proceeding or a finding of wrongdoing against any brokerage firm. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.