Financial Advisor (October 22, 2015) -- It’s still too easy for brokers involved in Finra arbitration settlements to have their records expunged, according to a new study cited by The Wall Street Journal.

From 2012 to 2014, Finra granted requests for expungement 87.8% of the time, according to the study conducted by the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association of 460 cases filed and settled during that time period. This is lower than the 96.9% expungement rate in cases settled from May 2009 through 2011, but it’s still too high, said Joseph Peiffer, president of the group, the paper reports. But the numbers have actually been on the rise for the prior three years: expungement was granted in 86.5% of the cases in 2012, 89.8% in 2013 and 91.7% of cases in 2014, states WealthManagement.com.

A Finra spokeswoman fired back at PIABA’s criticism, pointing out that just 11% of a total of 7,621 cases the group had cited in its report ended up getting expunged as of the end of last month, insisting that the practice is used only as “an extraordinary remedy,” the Journal writes. The Finra spokeswoman also said that Finra’s arbitration task force, which incidentally has several PIABA members, formed a committee last year to consider potential changes to the process. One of those would be the creation of a special panel of arbitrators tasked with making decisions on expungement requests, according to the paper. PIABA has suggested taking the expungement decision in settled cases entirely out of the hands of arbitrators and delegating them to Finra’s disciplinary unit, the Journal writes.

Finra as well as the SEC have taken steps in the past as well to limit the number of expungements. In 2013, Finra proposed that arbitration plans be required to provide the reasoning for allowing expungement in arbitration cases, and last month its board approved the measure to be filed with the SEC as a formal guidance, according to the paper. Peiffer, however, said that while it’s the right direction, the move “doesn’t go far enough,” the Journal writes. Meanwhile, the SEC has approved a Finra proposal in 2014 to stop the practice of asking clients not to oppose an advisor’s case for expungement when they settle, the paper notes.