onenewspage.co.uk (January 2, 2014) -- professionals with their money. but there may be some out there doing a bad job, with a secret history of complaints that have been wiped clean. tonight, a study is shaking up the financial industry. it reveals a high percentage of cases where brokers are getting investor complaints removed from public records. when that bell opens a new trading day you want your investments in the right hands. that's why damon petraglia thoroughly checked out his financial advisor. KEY @ :11 Damon Petraglia Investor and Investigator "It's very important for me to have somebody reliable and capable." BUT DAMON PETRAGLIA IS not just an investor he's also a private investigator. people hire him to check out their stock brokers. all financial pros with a federal license can be found on the "financial industry regulatory authority", or "finra's" website. you can find out if a broker is licensed, and where he or she has worked. but we've learned there's a loophole... Damon Petraglia "I don't think very many people knew about this." KEY @ :38 Atty. Jason Doss Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association PIABA "It KEY @ :38 Atty. Jason Doss Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association PIABA "It is the security industry's dirty little secret." THE SECRET IS REVEALED in a new study which shows how stock brokers can erase problems. brokers can request that a complaint be "expunged" from their record if it's false. federal guidelines say expungement is supposed to be an "extraordinary relief." but this study found between mid-may 2009 to 2011, when cases were "resolved by settlements", arbitrators approved brokers' requests to remove complaints from the record nearly 97 percent of the time. Atty. Jason Doss "This is a major problem that must be fixed." if a broker's record is wiped clean there's no way investors, regulators or future employers can find out. the study found one broker asked for expungement 40 times. his request was granted 35 times. the group behind the study says secrecy deals are often part of the settlement. Atty. Jason Doss "There will be a provision that says in exchange for that money the customer has to agree not to oppose the expungement request, and it just basically just wipes it under the carpet." FINRA IS now taking action, saying the study "underlines and emphasizes serious concerns." and the agency is sending notices to arbitrators, reminding them about "the extraordinary nature" of expungement relief. but what if a broker really was wrongly accused? KEY @ 2:02 Ed Gjertsen Financial Planning Association "We closelyguard our reputations so if there's something where we have complaints against us that are unwarranted or unfounded we want to protect our reputation." ED gjertsen , of the financial planning association says just because an advisor went through an arbitration doesn't mean they're a bad broker. if you're concerned about your financial professional, ask about their record. Ed Gjertsen "I think what the study showed us is that there's probably a lot more due diligence that the average investor has to do. Whether it's engaging with an advisor and asking them the direct question of saying Hey have you ever been involved in an arbitration?'" investigators say this records shake up should be a financial wake up call for everyone. Damon Petraglia "If you're pick a bad brokeryou could lose the entire investment." a court must also approve a broker's expungement request before it becomes final. several u-s senators are now taking a closer look at the records system. one wrote a letter to the s- e-c demanding big changes.