They were a group of senior UBS advisors who joined Barclays in 2011 to bolster its outreach to ultra-high-net worth Latin American clients.
But less than three years later, Rene Joliot, Edgar Ramirez and Romel Rodriguez filed a claim against the London bank for compensatory damages in excess of $5 million for a number of grievances, including "wrongful constructive discharge," according to FINRA documents.
An arbitration hearing, however, dismissed their claims last week, awarding over $2 million in counterclaims instead to Barclays.
When they joined in 2011, Barclays announced that Joliot, Rodriguez and Ramirez were part of larger a recruitment push to gather "talented and experienced individuals to the firm" to help build its Latin American business, according to a statement at the time from Mitch Cox, head of Barclays Wealth in the Americas and head of research and investments globally.
The FINRA arbitration document does not detail the reason the men departed UBS.
But in addition to their discharge claim, the advisors claimed several others, according to the FINRA document, including tortious interference with existing and prospective business relationships, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, negligent misrepresentation and detrimental reliance.
COSTLY DENIAL
The New York arbitration panel denied all the claims.
Ramirez was ordered to pay back Barclays $657,714 in breach of promissory notes and an additional $107,222 for unpaid withholding taxes and attorney's fees. Joliot was ordered to pay back $652,000 to Barclays and an additional $50,000 in the firm's attorney fees. Rodriguez was ordered to pay Barclays $496,000 and also $50,000 in attorney fees.
Joliot is not currently registered with FINRA, according to BrokerCheck records. Ramirez is now an advisor with Raymond James, and Rodriguez with Morgan Stanley.
The three advisors filed their claim together. An attorney representing them, Jacob Buchdahl, did not return a call for comment.
A Barclays spokesman said the firm declined to comment on the ruling.
Read more:
