Lehman Brothers is filing arbitration claims to recover recruitment and retention bonuses paid to brokers based on the premise that they are loans that have to be repaid if the broker’s employment was terminated for any reason. So far, Lehman has been successful as arbitration panels have awarded Lehman clawbacks of $2.2 million against one […]
Large Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and others, are cutting compensation for big producers, not just laying off lower producers and back-office employees, and are requiring even the biggest producers to bring in more business for the same amount of compensation, according to a CNBC article entitled “Wall Street Slashing Pay?Even for […]
A Federal Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) arbitration panel recently ordered Wedbush Securities to pay a former municipal trader $3.5 Million Dollars related to his claims that it failed to pay him for a year’s worth of incentive based compensation. The FINRA panel specifically noted “Wedbush Morgan’s morally reprehensible failure in refusing to compensate Claimant in […]
Only 18,000 new jobs were created in June, far fewer than the 125,000 expected, and 44,000 fewer than previously reported for April and May (which were revised downward), and the unemployment rate rose 0.1% to 9.2% from 9.1 percent, rekindling fears of a double dip recession, according to Patti Domm’s CNBC article entitled “‘Horrific’ Jobs […]
Regions Financial Corp. is trying to find a buyer for Morgan Keegan, but the clock is ticking, and the longer it takes, the greater the likelihood that its most valuable asset, the advisor reps, will leave, thereby reducing the value, and making a sale unlikely to happen at all, according to Andrew Osterand’s InvestmentNews article […]
The jobs crisis is starting to hit Wall Street banks and brokerage firms, according to a series of Wall Street Journal articles (“Wall Street Wielding the Ax,” by Aaron Lucchetti and Liz Rappaport; “Credit Suisse Set to Ax 600 Jobs,” by Katharina Bart; and “Here’s Why Wall Street Is Cutting Jobs”). A regulatory crackdown on […]
The ratio of broker-dealer closings to openings is almost 2:1, and this is a trend, especially for smaller broker-dealers, according to Bruce Kelly’s InvestmentNews article entitled “Ranks of B-Ds likely to shrink by 540 firms in three years.” 336 B-Ds withdrew their registration last year, compared to 190 new openings. Currently, there are 4,540 FINRA-registered […]
Renown Yale economist Robert Shiller recently issued two warnings that investors should carefully evaluate. Shiller is well known for predicting both the recent housing crash that began in 2006 and the tech crash in 2000-2001. While investors should always be skeptical of predictions, Shiller’s track record is such that his predictions are worthy of consideration. […]
Wall Street’s pay practices place financial advisors’ personal interests in direct conflict with the interest of their clients. This is one of many reasons that Wall Street firms oppose the adoption of a fiduciary standard that would require financial advisors to put their clients interest first.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney said that it may terminate more brokers than had been previously announced, as its cost slashing efforts continue, according to Andrew Osterland’s InvestmentNews article entitled “Reps face belt-tightening at MSSB.” The reasons given for the reduction in force are that the firm is less than half as profitable as expected, and […]
