The options debacle helped drive a 24% increase last year in arbitration cases filed with the National Association of Securities Dealers to a record 6, 915.
What is more, while they agreed not to disparage the settlement publicly, each reserved the right to contest regulators' findings during legal proceedings and securities arbitrations, a record 1, 463 of which were filed in the first two months of the year.
Kevin Logan, chief U.S. economist with HSBC Securities, says the ineffective track record of Congress these days presents a very real possibility of another downgrade for U.S. debt in the future.