The FINRA Dispute Resolution Task Force, a task force formed in 2014 to consider possible enhancements to FINRA’s arbitration and mediation forum, yesterday issued its Final Report in which it made a number of recommendations for changes to FINRA’s arbitration and mediation processes.  Among the notable recommendations was a recommendation that FINRA expand the use of explained awards.  Currently, all final awards must contain certain bare-bones information, including the names of the parties, a summary of the issues, and the damages and other relief granted, but those awards rarely contain an explanation of the award.  The Final Report can be found here: http://www.finra.org/sites/default/files/Final-DR-task-force-report.pdf.