Law and legal issues

Experts say that there are pitfalls, rules and procedures that departing financial advisors should know. Problem is, too many act first and consult lawyers later.

The decision comes as a victory for FINRA in a series of legal assaults meant to undercut the authority of self-regulatory organizations.

Regulators discovered Julie Darrah had been siphoning millions from elderly clients after WEG bought her practice in 2021.

The broker-dealer alleged that a FINRA arbitration panelist who helped hand down the landmark penalty should have recused herself after reaching a similar conclusion in a case involving the same embattled broker.

By agreeing to share taxpayer data at all, the Internal Revenue Service is taking an unprecedented step that breaks with longstanding assurances.

Regulators say they are seeking fairness, noting that firms that reached deals with the SEC before the start of the year are under fewer regulatory mandates.

The industry rivals could still turn to FINRA arbitration to pursue their dispute over allegedly unwarranted data breach notices Ameriprise sent LPL customers.

Morgan Stanley is among a long list of wealth managers facing questions about whether their handling of uninvested cash is really in clients' best interest.

After joining Raymond James last year, Lynette Ancona contends she was virtually forced out of Schwab by a branch manager who tended to favor "younger, male" colleagues.

The industry rivals are back in court with fresh allegations that Ameriprise falsely warned its former clients that LPL misappropriated their account information.

Michael Bonevento and his team left Ameriprise in 2019 to join LPL Financial. He says too much time has elapsed for him to now be accused of misappropriating client information.

A court of appeals agreed with Commonwealth's contention that a jury should decide if investors were harmed by investment disclosures allegedly withheld from them.

UBS contends the nearly $70 million in punitive damages it has been ordered to pay a wealthy Iowa family are not justified under federal or state law.

Stifel follows closely on UBS's heels in getting hit with tens of millions in punitive damages.

Regulators accused Cambridge Investment Research of directing clients to mutual funds and other investments that generated revenue-sharing payments when cheaper options were available.

A federal judge agrees with Merrill that deferred compensation is a bonus used to reward employee loyalty rather than a retirement benefit protected by federal law.

Among other things, regulators accused Robinhood of failing to supervise social media influencers and said some of its social media messages were misleading to investors.

The dispute shows Edward Jones has become emboldened in taking legal actions against advisors perceived to have inflicted harm on its business interests by leaving for another firm, one industry recruiter said.

A group of nine claimants said they lost millions after the UBS broker Andrew Burish recommended they place bets that Tesla shares would decline in value.

U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich found Ameriprise failed to furnish evidence that data taken by a recently recruited advisory team was going to be used to solicit their clients to LPL.