Investor groups slammed Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s BrokerCheck reports as incomplete and misleading.

The Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA), Public Citizen and two other advocates urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to force the publication of vital information for investors that is already available from state securities regulators and other sources. A glaring omission, said the groups, is that BrokerCheck does not include broker terminations.

“Investors considering whether to hire a new broker to manage their life savings have a legitimate interest in knowing whether that person has been fired from a previous firm and the circumstances surrounding that termination. (Investors) certainly have a legitimate need to know this information to be able to determine whether the broker is trustworthy,” the groups said.

The fact that terminations and other information are available elsewhere voids Finra’s justification that much of the data not on BrokerCheck is being left out in the interest of privacy.


Additionally, BrokerCheck should include failed examinations, IRS tax liens, judgments and liens originally reported as outstanding that have been satisfied and bankruptcy proceedings filed more than ten years ago, the groups said.

“Reasonable investors would have good cause not to engage or hire a broker who has demonstrated that he or she cannot properly manage their own finances,” they noted.

PIABA and the others made their request in a letter to the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee.