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Stifel Faces Mounting Arbitration Losses Over Chuck Roberts' Structured Note Sales

Posted on July 29th, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Stifel Faces Mounting Arbitration Losses Over Chuck Roberts' Structured Note Sales

From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law

Stifel Financial has reached another substantial settlement connected to a controversial structured note strategy promoted by Miami-based broker Chuck A. Roberts. According to FINRA records, the firm agreed to pay $13.5 million to former clients of Roberts — more than double the $5 million originally sought in their claims alleging breach of fiduciary duty and fraud.

As reported by AdvisorHub, this latest settlement adds to a growing list of large awards and settlements tied to Roberts’ structured note sales. In March, a FINRA arbitration panel ordered Stifel to pay a staggering $133 million in damages, far surpassing the $30 million claim, a decision that sent ripples through the industry given the scale of the award and the number of similar pending cases. Stifel since has moved to vacate that decision in court.

Despite its public stance that Roberts’ clients were sophisticated investors who knowingly assumed the risks involved, Stifel has continued to settle related claims. In April, the firm paid $16 million to resolve a case where customers sought just $5 million in damages. Other settlements include a $2 million payout in March to settle a $1 million claim, and $205,000 paid in February to resolve a matter seeking between $100,000 and $500,000.

Roberts, a 35-year industry veteran, moved to Stifel from Morgan Stanley in 2019. Court documents show that over his career, Roberts earned approximately $61.4 million in commissions from selling $3.7 billion worth of structured notes. AdvisorHub reports that some of the notes were tied to volatile technology stocks such as Dynatrace, Palantir, Twilio, and DocuSign.

While arbitration results for Stifel have varied, many outcomes have skewed heavily against the firm. In November, a panel awarded $2.4 million to an ex-client of Roberts seeking $5 million. Another October 2024 decision delivered $14.3 million to a claimant asking for $5 million. Notably, a customer claim seeking $110,000 in June was denied.

According to AdvisorHub, Roberts currently faces roughly 20 pending customer complaints, collectively seeking about $40 million in damages, according to Roberts’ BrokerCheck report.

 

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, stifel

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