Yes it is or rather it can be. Ive worked for commercial and investmentbanks on the securities analysis side in compliance and in audit and riskIve had a Series 7 and 24 and I serve as a FINRA arbitrator from time totime.But its not for extra money the money is an honorarium rather thananything else and the chance to serve on cases is in reality pretty rareat least in my experience. I think the most that Ive earned as a FINRAarbitrator from any one case with 20 hours spent reviewing materialsscheduling and hearing the case was perhaps 400 total.Im a FINRA arbitrator because I wanted to see how the securities disputeresolution process worked from start to finish. I believed that at a minimumit would make me more knowledgeable in identifying and understanding therisks issues costs and considerations in securities brokerage customerfirmand firmfirm disputes as well as helping me to see the decisionmakingprocess and see how the rules apply in real world situations.FINRA arbitrators are selected for each case like this Arbitration Process Arbitrator Selection FINRA FINRA distinguishes between public arbitratorsindividuals who may not have specific industry experience and nonpublic orindustry arbitrators those who are currently employed in the industry.FINRA Arbitrators FINRA FINRA has a strict process in place for disclosureof conflicts the parties make the selection of arbitrators based off randomlygenerated lists of qualified arbitrators FINRA provides to the parties andthe potential arbitrators are charged with disclosing and identifying anypotential conflicts including knowing the other arbitrators or having workedwith them in the past or any investments or conflicts or interactions withany of the parties involved in the case among other disclosures. The partiesdecide whether or not the disclosures are significant enough to warrant adifferent arbitrator.Although I met a few securities professionals mostly back or middle officemanagement who would be characterized as industry or nonpublic arbitratorsin FINRA arbitrator training Ive yet to serve on a panel that was not madeup of attorneys with some securities litigation background who fell into theclassification of public arbitrators. Your current employment is the primarydeterminant of whether or not you are a public or nonpublic arbitrator.Because I worked in risk at a bank when I applied to become an arbitrator andnot directly for the FINRA member brokerage firm that was part of the bankbecause I did not have direct oversight responsibility for the FINRA memberand because I am not currently working at a member firm I am designated apublic arbitrator.As far as conflicts with the compliance function goes thats up to the firmthat you work at. When I was an audit manager one of my VPs whose specialtywas securities brokerage and who was not an attorney was a FINRA arbitrator.I was impressed by the knowledge he brought to the table and the dedication tothe industry that he had demonstrated by becoming a FINRA arbitrator. Heprovided me with one of the recommendations I needed to become a FINRAarbitrator and Im still grateful for that thanks KenHowever when I was working for a consulting firm that did regulatorycompliance work for all sorts of financial service organizations includingsecurities firms my boss didnt understand my potential scheduling conflictsand was not supportive and so I had to decline potential panel assignments.How your firm will view the outside work or affiliation its NOTemployment arbitrators are not employed by FINRA is entirely up to yourmanagement but you will at a minimum need to disclose to your management.update as of 20142023 due to a rule change I am no longer classified as a public arbitrator which means that that I and anyone who has ever worked for a securities firm in any capacity whatsoever summer interns temps drivers probably is now an u201cindustryu201d arbitrator and therefore effectively off the possible roster for disputes involving publicbroker disputes.