For the past five years, FINRA arbitration filings have followed a predictable pattern—until they didn't. Our analysis of 6,244 arbitration cases filed between January 2019 and December 2023 reveals a striking story: filing rates remained remarkably stable around 80-102 cases per month, punctuated by dramatic spikes in 2020 and 2023 that doubled or tripled normal volumes.
If you're forecasting arbitrator capacity, managing compliance resources, or analyzing industry trends, understanding these patterns is critical. These patterns aren't random—they reveal how the securities arbitration system responds to market forces and regulatory pressures.
Five Years of Filing Data
Monthly FINRA Arbitration Filings (2019-2023)
Look at the chart above and focus on the red line (2020) and orange line (2023). While the gray lines (2019, 2021, 2022) stay relatively flat and low, these two years show dramatic spikes that jump off the chart.
What We Found: Two Distinct Spike Periods
Our analysis reveals filing rates remained remarkably stable most of the time—with two dramatic exceptions:
The Stable Years (2019, 2021-2022)
- Average: 85-102 cases/month
- Range: 51-152 cases/month
- Predictable monthly variation
- No sustained elevated periods
The 2020 Spikes (Summer-Fall)
- July 2020: 187 cases (2.3x normal baseline)
- August 2020: 253 cases (3.1x normal baseline)
- September 2020: 263 cases (3.2x normal baseline)
- Combined: 703 cases in 3 months (average: 234/month)
The 2023 Spikes (Spring & Fall)
- April 2023: 169 cases (2.1x normal baseline)
- May 2023: 223 cases (2.8x normal baseline)
- October 2023: 275 cases (3.4x normal baseline)
- Combined: 667 cases in 3 months (average: 222/month)
💡 Key Pattern
Both spike periods show identical patterns: multiple months with 2-3x normal filing volumes, totaling 650-700 cases. October 2023 holds the record at 275 cases—the highest single month in the entire 5-year period.
The similarity between these two surge periods is striking. It's not a coincidence—something systemic is driving this behavior.
The Mystery: What Caused These Spikes?
Here's what we know:
- The spikes are concentrated in specific months (July-Sept 2020, April-May & Oct 2023), not spread across quarters
- They're massive (2-3x normal volumes), not minor fluctuations
- They happened twice in completely different years (2020 and 2023)
- They follow the same pattern (multiple consecutive months of elevated filings)
Your first instinct might be market crashes—after all, 2020 had the COVID crash and 2023 had the banking crisis. But the data tells a different story, one driven by regulatory deadlines rather than market turmoil.
We'll explore what really caused these surges in our next post: The Great Expungement Rush: Why Brokers Raced to File Before Regulatory Deadlines.
Our Methodology
Data Source: FINRA arbitration records.
Date Range: January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2023 (five complete years)
Sample Size: 6,244 cases
Filters Applied: Excluded subordinate consolidated cases (to avoid double-counting), excluded superseded amendments (only the latest version counted), excluded vacated awards and deleted records.
What's Next
This is Part 1 of a 3-part series on FINRA filing patterns:
- Part 1 (this post): The data overview—when do filings spike?
- Part 2: The mechanism—what drove the 2020 and 2023 filing surges?
- Part 3: The myth—do market crashes drive customer claims?
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Whether you're selecting arbitrators for an upcoming case or analyzing historical patterns, ArbitratorX gives you the data-driven insights you need to make informed decisions.
Questions about our methodology or data sources? Contact us at support@arbitrator-x.com.
Data accurate as of December 25, 2024. Filing counts may be updated as FINRA publishes additional case records.