Wall Street seems to be in a combative mood these days. Finra arbitration cases are up nearly 50 percent this year, and attorneys involved in the proceedings think they know why: the increase in market volatility.

"As Warren Buffett said, when the tide goes down you learn who's swimming naked," said Stuart Meissner, a securities law attorney and managing member at New York-based law firm Meissner Associates.

If that's the case, Finra's latest case filings numbers show there are a lot of players in the securities market suddenly running for towels.

Through April, 1,538 new arbitration cases have been filed with Finra, which is up 47 percent from the 1,047 cases filed at the same point last year. It also marks a 29 percent increase from 2016. The increases span cases filed by both clients and brokers, with client filings up 40 percent and intra-industry filings up 59 percent, according to Finra.

Attorneys involved in Finra proceedings said they weren't too surprised by the increase, noting that it's not unusual to see industry disputes rise as the market takes investors and their brokers on the type of wild roller-coaster rides that were experienced earlier this year.

But there may be other factors at play, according to Finra.

Cases related to Puerto Rico bond fraud and requests by brokers to have their Finra records expunged may also be contributing to the increase, according to officials at the agency.

Case filings involving municipal bonds, for example, totaled 279 at the end of April, up from 94 a year earlier, buttressing the claim that the Puerto Rico bond cases are a factor.

At the same time, Finra is proposing a rule change for broker record expungements that some in the industry feel would make it harder for brokers to cleanse their records when they've been cleared of violations. The theory would be that the impending change has compelled brokers to get their expungement cases in while the old rules remain.

A compliance consultant who formerly headed arbitration operations at Finra feels that all three factors—volatility, Puerto Rico bonds and the expungement issue—are playing a role in the surge of filings.

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