Law and legal issues

"There is an added sense of urgency now," says Barbara Roper, director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America.

Their attorney said he would instead file claims in arbitration.

Morgan Stanley, a previous employer, won $243,000 in an earlier arbitration case.

The spat between the firms started when the regional BD recruited a group of advisers who collectively oversaw about $1.1 billion in client assets.

The arbitration award comes a month after the wirehouse had to pay a similar amount to clients stemming from the sale of debt from the island commonwealth.

A husband and wife alleged they were advised to cash out nearly $1 million of their pension money for risky investments, according to their lawyer in FINRA arbitration.

Citigroup Global Markets paid a $1 million penalty to New York State for overcharging more than 47,000 customers. It will also reimburse the customers.

OSHA supports ex-broker Johnny Burris’ firing because he allegedly faked company letterhead. Burris says the bank approved the altered letter years before.

The decision vindicates ex-broker Johnny Burris, but also supports the move to fire him. However, a bank document obtained by Financial Planning casts doubts on the reason for his termination.

The adviser misappropriated $268,680 from the brokerage accounts of five elderly clients, one terminally ill.

Black employees at the firm say lucrative client accounts were often steered toward financial advisers who weren’t black.

The adviser had been employed with the firm for seven years prior to her dismissal, and had no disclosures on her BrokerCheck record.

The regulator said "significant deficiencies" affected hundreds of millions of records.

The firm was accused of using transactions with an affiliate to reduce the amount it was required to keep in its customer reserve account.

Millions in clients' funds was steered into a sports ticketing business.

Lawyers have filed FINRA arbitration claims alleging the bank deprived them of their bonuses.

"I lose years of my life. They can settle, write a check and move on," says an adviser whose book of business dropped by $40 million after he alleges he was wrongfully terminated.

Will Chief District Judge Barbara Lynn be the first to rule against the regulation? Opponents of a case in Texas federal court have high hopes.

The legal setback for the rule's foes still leaves three ongoing court challenges, as well as an uncertain future after Trump takes office.

The team accused the firm of preventing them from properly conducting business with their clients, a charge that a FINRA arbitration panel rejected.