FINRA Defeats Broker’s Suit Over Disciplinary Action Proceeding

A federal court on Wednesday ruled that it lacked jurisdiction over a broker’s claims that the Financial Industry Regulation Authority’s allegations against him in a disciplinary proceeding should be brought before an Article III court.

The US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to hear the broker’s Seventh Amendment challenge to FINRA’s proceedings because the broker had other avenues to appeal FINRA’s decision, and the claim wasn’t fully collateral to the governing statute’s provisions or outside of the organization’s expertise.

Broker D. Allen Blankenship “will have to pursue his theory on direct ...