Both federal and state courts are exceedingly reluctant to halt securities arbitrations.  

As an example, a California federal court refused to issue a temporary restraining order stopping a securities customer arbitration.  In fact, the court was somewhat perturbed at even being bothered, indicating that TROs were “for emergencies only.”  See Stanchart Securities International Inc. v. Galvadon, S.D. Cal., No. 12cv2522-LAB (MDD), 10/24/12, and  http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/california/casdce/3:2012cv02522/397668/9/.  Clearly, the court was also influenced by the fact the FINRA arbitration had been going on for over a year, and this was the first attempt to stop it.  In fact, the TRO was filed a mere 3 days before the FINRA arbitration hearing was to take place– not a good move on the part of the parties seeking a stay. 

In any event, if you are an optimist, one supposes you could infer if the parties had sought relief sooner, the response may have been different.  However, we do not really think that is something we will see in the foreseeable future.