Broker Poker

NASD has also started posting arbitration awards online, armchair reading likely to delight and discourage in equal measure. Most lawyers won't even start sniffing if you've lost less than $50,000, which means your time may be better spent finding a new broker to rebalance your portfolio. The SEC urges investors to check a broker's history before opening an account. But its Central Registration Depository won't mention any complaints that were erased as part of settlement agreements, which took care of 41% of last year's arbitration claims. NASD has been dragging its feet in drafting a proposal to prevent expungement in most cases. "Brokers shouldn't be able to buy a clean record," says Charles Austin Jr. of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association. If brokers remain branded by complaints of churning and misrepresentation, fewer investors--or at least the ones who do their homework--may get burned next time.