Miriam Rozen

A group of investors are testing the limits of firms’ liability with a claim that Raymond James Financial owes them $5 million for an advisor’s allegedly improper recommendations even though they were never the firm’s customers.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ordered Edward Jones, Osaic Wealth and Cambridge Investment Research to repay over $8.2 million total to customers who were improperly charged mutual fund sales charges, according to an announcement.

The number of brokers seeking to clear their public record through the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s arbitration forum plummeted 79% over the past year since the regulator tightened requirements.

Regime change became the watchword in the wealth management space in 2024 as many of many industry leaders left, retired or were unceremoniously ousted in the wake of lauded careers.

Morgan Stanley has won an arbitrator’s blessing to claw back almost $7.4 million plus interest from a barred Los Angeles broker, according to a decision finalized on Friday.

A former independent broker with Raymond James Financial Services in Buffalo, New York, appears to have provided a textbook lesson in how not to respond to a regulatory inquiry.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority censured and imposed a $600,000 fine on Fidelity Investments after finding that supervisory lapses allowed an employee to steal $750,000 over eight years from stock plan customers.

Wells Fargo & Co.’s broker recruitment efforts have remained steadfast, particularly for its independent and bank-based brokerage channels, executives told analysts on the company’s fourth quarter earnings call.

Bank of America’s wealth division posted more normal client acquisition figures for 2024 after a banner year in 2023, but executives said that those joining last year brought more assets than in years’ past.

The Securities and Exchange Commission censured and fined LPL Financial $18 million for multiple shortcomings in its anti-money laundering compliance programs, including its failure to properly restrict thousands of cannabis-linked and foreign accounts that had not passed its own screening tests.