The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is warning its arbitrators to be careful about expunging disciplinary information from the BrokerCheck system.

In updated guidance sent Monday to its arbitrator pool, Finra made specific reference to expungement-only cases—a growing tactic used by registered reps to remove old complaints that may have accumulated over the years.

Finra said that in these types of cases, which are heard separately from the underlying customer arbitration, arbitrators should order the broker to notify the customer and provide a copy of the expungement claim.

“It is particularly important to note that without this directive from the arbitrators, the customer(s) may not even be aware that an expungement claim is pending regarding their prior dispute,” Finra said in its guidance.

Customers have the right to object to an expungement request made by their broker. In most cases, though, they don’t participate in hearings. Critics of the expungement process say the prevalence of one-sided arguments results in a high win rate for expungement requests.

In August, Financial Advisor magazine reported on the growing number of brokers who are filing expungement-only cases to erase old customer complaints.

The trend isn’t surprising given the growing importance of a clean disciplinary record. Finra has been actively promoting the use of its BrokerCheck reporting system, and a year ago it required that firms and advisors provide a link to BrokerCheck with any online profile.