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Registered Rep. October 14, 2010 Kristen French	Merrill Brokers Had "Good Reason" To Leave, And Got $1.2 ml For It Two former Merrill brokers won $1.167 million in an arbitration award from Merrill Lynch for deferred compensation benefits
Registered Rep. August 25, 2006 Kevin Burke	Merrill Fighting Back Against Recent Defections The recruiting war for top brokers remains fierce. The latest evidence of the fight to win million-dollar producers involves the industry's biggest firms.
Registered Rep. January 13, 2010 Halah Touryalai	Citi Files Motion To Dismiss In Bonus Pay Class Action The original lawsuit was brought on behalf of 6 former Citigroup brokers who allege that the payback terms on their upfront bonuses violate contract law, and that they do not owe the firm any money.
Registered Rep. October 17, 2011 Patrick J. Burns	Don't Ignore That Promissory Note One of the trickiest components when it comes to a broker's departure from a wirehouse firm is how to handle the promissory note.
Registered Rep. February 8, 2006 Kevin Burke	Merrill Brokers to Get Less Money Now, More Later--If They Stay Merrill Lynch has changed the way it pays its brokers to include more deferred compensation and less cash. The new package rewards brokers who stay a long time, while penalizing those that don't. Its aim is reducing turnover, but may also improve the firm's earnings.
Registered Rep. June 2, 2003 David A. Gaffen	Vermont Judge Rules Against a Merrill TRO A federal judge in Vermont has ruled against Merrill Lynch's attempt to prevent two former brokers from contacting clients they held while at the firm.
On Wall Street October 1, 2012 Lorie Konish	Settlement May Not End Merrill Lynch's Deferred Compensation Woes Exemptions and the chance to opt out have lawyers predicting the $40 million proposed deferred compensation plan settlement will not cease litigation against Merrill Lynch.
Registered Rep. November 29, 2006 Halah Touryalai	Merrill Lynch to Pay National Overtime Settlement The financial firm has decided to consolidate the numerous overtime lawsuits that have been filed against the firm and settle nationally with its brokers.
On Wall Street September 1, 2010 Mark Astarita	Denying Advisors A Legal Forum As part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, Congress has given the SEC the authority to prohibit or impose conditions upon the use of pre-dispute arbitration agreements by brokerage firms and federally registered investment advisors.
Registered Rep. October 1, 2002 Rick Weinberg	Brokers Fear Arbitration... With arbitration cases on the rise, many brokers are worried about the prospect of being dragged through a legal process that, because of the current environment, some believe is heavily slanted toward the client.
On Wall Street September 1, 2009 Helen Kearney	On Life Support a Year Ago, Merrill Pays for Top Producers Merrill, under BofA, seems to be on the hunt to add to its ranks, and it's offering a very competitive package that has almost unlimited upside for top producers.
Registered Rep. September 1, 2005 Kristen French	Ready to Punch a Time Clock Merrill Lynch paid $37 million to settle claims that it owes thousands of former brokers overtime pay. Now, class-action attorneys smell blood.
Registered Rep. February 1, 2003 David A. Gaffen	An Employer's Market It's a hirer's market out there, but brokerage firms have not stopped recruiting. In fact, although it is quieter than usual, many firms are still willing to pony up big bucks in hopes of attracting top-shelf talent.
Registered Rep. June 1, 2010 John Aidan Byrne	Bank of America Ramps Up Online Brokerage Bank of America is making a push into electronic brokerage services, a menu that includes free online trading and a new platform called Merrill Edge, set to debut in late June. Some say the new services will steal business from Merrill advisors.
Registered Rep. September 17, 2008	Merrill Reps: Waiting For Retention News Brokers were told they would be offered retention packages, but no further details have been offered so far.
Registered Rep. February 11, 2010 Halah Touryalai	Victory For Broker in Citi Bonus Repayment Case A former Citi broker doesn't have to pay back the full amount owed on his sign-on bonus, a FINRA arbitration panel rules.
Registered Rep. March 15, 2012 Kristen French	Did the $5 Debit Card Fee Prompt the Merrill Exodus? Bank of America Merrill Lynch has been bleeding top brokers in the past six months, just as many industry observers predicted.
Registered Rep. November 14, 2008	Update: 6,200 Merrill FAs Sign BofA Retention At Deadline Merrill says that only about half of the firm's nearly 17,000 advisors were eligible in the first place, and that they are responsible for about 75 percent of the firm's production.
Registered Rep. March 1, 2010 Halah Touryalai	Bonus Repayment Suit Turns Into Battle Over Forced Arbitration A court case over the repayment of upfront loans to brokers is turning into a legal battle over forced FINRA arbitration.
Registered Rep. April 27, 2010 Halah Touryalai	Judge Says Citi Brokers Must Repay Bonuses; Appeal Comes Next Former Citigroup brokers, who wanted courts to dismiss debts the firm said they owed on loans awarded when they were hired, were turned down by a district court judge. But they are planning to appeal that decision.
Registered Rep. October 30, 2008	Merrill's Retention Package: Just For White Guys? Stowell & Friedman, a Chicago-based law firm, files a suit against Merrill Lynch claiming African-American and female brokers at the firm have been largely excluded from its retention-bonus plan.
Registered Rep. February 16, 2012 Kristen French	Due Diligence: LaMothe Takes Swipe at BofA, Does 180 on Value of Bank-Brokerage Tie Ups Lyle LaMothe, former head of retail brokerage Merrill Lynch, claims that Merrill advisors are leaving the firm because they are being pushed to sell the whole bank instead of focus on wealth management and what's best for their clients.
Registered Rep. October 24, 2008 John Churchill	Merrill Retention Is Adequate for Top Dogs, Scanty for Lower-Tier Producers The long-awaited Merrill Lynch retention package has arrived. Not surprisingly, top producers will probably be pleased, but others may not.
On Wall Street November 1, 2009 Thomas Lewis	It's Payback Time on Promissory Notes Firms have been fighting back against defecting advisors. Increasingly one of the most effective weapons in their arsenal is the enforcement of promissory notes.
Registered Rep. January 29, 2008 Kristen French	Fuss Over Broker Expungement Continues The Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association recommends that the SEC and FINRA halt expungements, after a study finds that 98 percent of brokers seeking expungement in 2006 from an arbitrator got one.
Registered Rep. January 27, 2004 John Churchill	New Rule Makes Clearing Your Record Harder Brokers can expect a new rule that will make removing customer complaints and disciplinary actions from their public records much more difficult.
Registered Rep. October 27, 2008 John Churchill	Separate BofA Retention Package Targets Top Half of BofA force Only 50 percent, or roughly 1,000 of the 2,000 Bank of America Investment Services financial advisors, will see a retention bonus.
BusinessWeek August 30, 2004 Amy Borrus	Brokers Aren't Advisers The line between brokers and advisers was clear for decades. But in 1999, the Securities & Exchange Commission blurred that line. Now, to protect investors, the SEC must redraw a clear line.
Registered Rep. November 6, 2008	Bank Of America To Sign Protocol, Herd Still Weighing Options Bank of America intends to sign the so-called "broker protocol," an agreement signed by most of the brokerage firms and RIAs stipulating what client information is acceptable for a departing financial advisor to take without getting sued by the former employer. But when?
Registered Rep. November 11, 2010 Kristen French	Sources: New SEC Rules Won't Kill Upfront Bonuses New rules governing broker recruiting bonuses? The idea, floated by Mary Schapiro on Monday, met with skepticism this week from securities industry attorneys, compensation experts and recruiters.
Registered Rep. September 15, 2008 Kristen French	Merrill Lynch Sells Itself To Bank of America: Update 3 The biggest question, now that BofA has agreed to buy Merrill Lynch, is what Bank of America will do to hold onto Merrill Lynch's dearest asset -- its approximately 17,000 financial advisors.
Registered Rep. March 3, 2006 Halah Tourylai	Third Wirehouse Coughs Up Millions In Overtime Cases Yesterday, Morgan Stanley became the third wirehouse, after Merrill Lynch and UBS, to settle class action suits with California brokers over overtime pay in the past seven months -- the second in three weeks.
Registered Rep. February 1, 2011	Poll: Are Advisors Being Pressed to Peddle Bank Products? To what extent do brokers at Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo Advisors and elsewhere want to sell banking products?
Registered Rep. January 7, 2011 Kristen French	Will the SEC Curtail Recruiting Bonuses? With brokerage revenues getting squeezed and regulators sniffing around compensation issues and potential conflicts of interest, it's possible that 2011 could bring some changes to broker comp plans.
Registered Rep. March 23, 2006 Kristen French	Merrill To Gorman: Quit Poaching Our Reps And BOMs Is James Gorman, the new head of retail at Morgan Stanley, brazenly poaching employees from his old firm, Merrill Lynch? A judge apparently thinks so.
Registered Rep. December 21, 2006 Kevin Burke	In a Competitive Recruiting Climate, Merrill Sweetens FA Benefits Merrill Lynch has launched a new benefit program for its army of 15,700 brokers that will provide financial assistance to their families in the event of their death.
Registered Rep. January 1, 2003 David A. Gaffen	Merrill Takes it To the Bank One of Merrill Lynch's major initiatives in the coming year will be to continue to attract clients to the firm's expanded banking service, known as Beyond Banking.
Registered Rep. September 1, 2005 Kristen French	Gorman to the Rescue? Morgan Stanley brokers should expect a revolution when James Gorman takes the helm of the retail unit.
Registered Rep. January 1, 2003 Nicholas Ferber	Switching Has Changed During trying times like these, many reps are looking to switch jobs. When pondering a move, no question occupies more time or discussion between brokers, hiring managers and (sometimes) recruiters than the following: "What's in it for me?"
On Wall Street August 1, 2009 Helen Kearney	Death Knell for Mandatory Arbitration The meltdown on Wall Street, along with the raft of Ponzi schemes, have created a renewed regulatory zeal on the part of the government towards financial advisors. This all begs a major question: Is this the end of mandatory arbitration?
Investment Advisor March 2010 James J. Green	Merrill Discovers Retirement It appears that Merrill Lynch, now ensconced in Bank of America, has realized the importance of retirement planning to its clients and potential clients, and is moving to better position its army of financial advisors to compete in the space.
Registered Rep. April 1, 2003 David A. Gaffen	Your Book or Your Life! What would you do if you lost your book? Where would you turn for new customers? Where could you be hired? Those are questions that keep many advisors up at night.
Registered Rep. February 22, 2006 Halah Touryalai	Brokers Headed for Sweep in Overtime Pay Cases? Stockbrokers have won their second big overtime pay case against Wall Street firms and this may only be the beginning of a rout that could cost brokerage houses many millions of dollars more.
Registered Rep. August 1, 2006 Gary Weiss	Institutionalized Unfairness Here the author of Wall Street Versus America discusses how the mandatory arbitration of customer disputes must be made to go away. And not just because it hurts financial advisory customers. It hurts the financial advisor equally.
BusinessWeek August 16, 2004 Emily Thornton	The Brokers Strike Back Wall Street to investors: Beware of suing your brokers -- they might just sue you back.
Registered Rep. November 23, 2005 Kevin Burke	Mom-and-Daughter Team Wins $2 Million Arbitration Over Sex Discrimination Merrill Lynch got dinged -- again -- for allegedly mistreating its female reps.
Registered Rep. May 12, 2011 Mindy Diamond	Golden Handcuffs Loosen Some advisors who signed retention agreements have already begun looking for a way out, but plan to hold off on the switch for a year or two, until they can pocket more of that retention money.
Registered Rep. October 1, 2002 Ross Tucker	Payback Time During the heady days of the bull market brokers found themselves lured to other firms by big upfront bonuses, in the form of forgivable loans. Unable to maintain prior production rates under worsening market conditions, many have lost their jobs and their clients. Now their firms want to collect on those loans.
Registered Rep. February 2, 2006 Kristen French	Brokers Learning to Play by New Rules It's no longer business as usual on Wall Street. Starting yesterday, broker/dealers must follow a new SEC rule that requires them to disclose at certain times that they may not be acting in their clients' best interest.
Registered Rep. November 22, 2005 John Churchill	For Merrill and Smith Barney Acquisitions, It's Wait n' See The financial firms' respective purchases would have added hundreds of regional brokers to their retail brokerage units, but many of these departing brokers have decided they don't want to work for a big firm and are finding sweet recruiting deals at smaller shops.