Former Wells Fargo Advisors Team Wins Sweeping Expungement of Their Forms U-5
From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:
On January 15th, a FINRA arbitration panel in Indianapolis recommended expungement of Forms U-5, finding that Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network (“Wells Fargo”) had disaffiliated with a team of financial advisors “as a result of fabricated investigatory findings.”
The new disclosure language also will appear on the publicly-available BrokerCheck reports and the CRD database system.
The originally-filed Forms U-5 reported that the three individuals were “permitted to resign” from Wells Fargo in 2017. Their termination notices (Forms U-5) were filed with FINRA, and read, “Termination of licensee agreement after a review of certain annuity processes. Specifically the processes of submission and funding of client annuity replacement contracts.” In addition, certain disclosure questions were checked “Yes”, which indicated that the team had “violated investment related statutes, regulations, rules or industry standards of conduct.”
The team thereafter joined Ameriprise Financial Services. The team filed arbitration claims against Wells Fargo. The arbitration was resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties. The team thereafter pressed on with the expungement portion of their legal action.
After hearing evidence and in a unanimous award, the FINRA arbitration panel found that Wells Fargo had disaffiliated with the financial advisors “as a result of fabricated investigatory findings.”
In the FINRA arbitration award, the panel of arbitrators recommends expungement. Specifically, the panel recommends that the reason for termination be changed to “Voluntary” and the termination explanation be changed to reflect that the disaffiliation was a result of fabricated investigatory findings. Additionally, the panel recommends expungement of the “Yes” answer to Questions 7(F)(1) of the Forms U-5 filed by Wells Fargo and maintained by the CRD. The “Yes” answer shall be changed to “No” and the accompanying Termination Disclosure Reporting Page shall be deleted in its entirety.
The Panel further recommends expungement of the “Yes” answer to Question
14(J)(1) of the Amended Forms U-4 filed by Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., and maintained by the CRD. The “Yes” answer shall be changed to “No” and the accompanying Termination Disclosure Reporting Page shall be deleted in its entirety.
Finally, the panel states that these recommendations shall apply to any subsequent disclosures concerning these events.
The attorneys of Eccleston Law LLC represent investors and advisors nationwide in securities and employment matters. The securities lawyers at Eccleston Law also practice a variety of other areas of practice for financial investors and advisors including Securities Fraud, Compliance Protection, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, FINRA Matters, and much more. Our attorneys draw on a combined experience of nearly 65 years in delivering the highest quality legal services. If you are in need of legal services, contact us to schedule a one-on-one consultation today.
Related Attorneys: James J. Eccleston
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