The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is the largest non-governmental regulator of broker-dealer firms doing business in the US and administers nearly all securities-related arbitrations in the US. It is a private, self-regulatory organization that exercises comprehensive oversight of all securities firms that do business with the public (see UBS Fin. Servs., Inc. v. W. Va. Univ. Hosps., Inc., 660 F.3d 643, 648 (2d Cir. 2011)). FINRA is authorized by Congress to ensure that the securities industry in the US operates fairly and honestly. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulates and oversees FINRA's operations and programs.

FINRA has a uniform set of rules for arbitrating disputes between FINRA members and their customers, designed to provide fairness, procedural protection, and access to remedies that customers otherwise must seek in court: the FINRA Code of Arbitration Procedure for Customer Disputes. The Customer Code is contained in Rule 12000 of the FINRA Rules, which applies to claims filed on or after April 16, 2007.

It also has a separate set of rules, the FINRA Code of Arbitration Procedure for Industry Disputes, for disputes involving solely two or more Members or Associated Persons (for example, cases between brokerage firms or between brokers and brokerage firms). The Industry Code is contained in Rule 13000 of the FINRA Rules, which applies to claims filed on or after April 16, 2007.

This FINRA Arbitration Toolkit offers a selection of resources designed to give attorneys a basic understanding of several important aspects of arbitrating industry and customer disputes under the different FINRA rules, including how to: