(a) Postponement of Hearings
(1) When a Hearing Shall Be Postponed
A hearing shall be postponed:
(A) by agreement of the parties; or
(B) if FINRA notifies a customer that a member or an associated person has become inactive as set forth in Rule 12202, the scheduled hearing date is within 60 days of the date the customer receives
(a) Upon motion of a party, the panel may order the following without the use of subpoenas:
(1) The appearance of any employee or associated person of a member of FINRA; or
(2) The production of any documents in the possession or control of such persons or members.
(b) The motion must include a draft order and must be filed with the Director. The requesting party must serve the motion and
(a) To the fullest extent possible, parties should produce documents and make witnesses available to each other without the use of subpoenas.
(1) Arbitrators shall have the authority to issue subpoenas for the production of documents or the appearance of witnesses.
(2) Unless circumstances dictate the need for a subpoena, arbitrators shall not issue subpoenas to non-party FINRA members and/or
(a) Failure to cooperate in the exchange of documents and information as required under the Code may result in sanctions. The panel may issue sanctions against any party in accordance with Rule 12212(a) for:
• Failing to comply with the discovery provisions of the Code, unless the panel determines that there is substantial justification for the failure to comply; or
• Frivolously
Depositions are strongly discouraged in arbitration. Upon motion of a party, the panel may permit depositions, but only under very limited circumstances, including:
• To preserve the testimony of ill or dying witnesses;
• To accommodate essential witnesses who are unable or unwilling to travel long distances for a hearing and may not otherwise be required to participate in the
(a) A party may make a motion asking the panel to order another party to produce documents or information if the other party has:
• Failed to comply with Rule 12506 or 12507; or
• Objected to the production of documents or information under Rule 12508.
(b) Motions to compel discovery must be made, and will be decided, in accordance with Rule 12503. Such motions must include the
(a) If a party objects to producing any document described in Document Production Lists 1 or 2 or any document or information requested under Rule 12507, it must specifically identify which document or requested information it is objecting to and why. Objections must be in writing, and must be served on all other parties. Parties must produce all applicable listed documents, or other requested
(a) Making Other Discovery Requests
(1) Parties may also request additional documents or information from any party by serving a written request on the party. Requests for information are generally limited to identification of individuals, entities, and time periods related to the dispute; such requests should be reasonable in number and not require narrative answers or fact finding.
(a) Applicability of Document Production Lists
The Director will notify parties of the location of the FINRA Discovery Guide and Document Production Lists on FINRA's Web site, but will provide a copy to the parties upon request. Document Production Lists 1 and 2 describe the documents that are presumed to be discoverable in all arbitrations between a customer and a member or
