Lickiss

Appellant Edwin E. “Mike” Lickiss filed a petition in state court seeking to expunge his public securities brokerage records held within the central registration depository (CRD) database maintained by respondent Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). In that petition Lickiss cited the court’s jurisdiction under FINRA rule 2080(a) (mle 2080), 1 as well *1128 as the court’s equitable and inherent power to effect expungements. Sustaining FINRA’s demurrer without leave to amend and dismissing the matter, the trial court adopted the standard set forth in rule 2080(b)(1) to evaluate the petition and concluded Lickiss did not and could not plead any basis for relief under that rule.

By adopting the narrow legal criteria of rule 2080(b) as the tool for evaluating Lickiss’s pleadings, to the exclusion of any consideration of equitable principles, the court failed to rule on Lickiss’s claim for equitable relief. Although imperfect, that claim was not fatally uncertain. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

L FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. FINRA

FINRA 2 is a “ ‘self-regulatory organization’ ” as defined in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that oversees…