Untangling a U5 Reporting Error, Client Gets Termination Disclosure Expunged

Recently at HLBS Law, our attorneys obtained a win for a financial advisor seeking expungement over a termination dispute. This client was a financial advisor for a well-known bank when there was a merger happening within the bank. Due to an internal dispute in the process of the merger, client was terminated. The client knew they were wrongfully terminated and fortunately they were able to find employment quickly with a new bank..

As Client transitioned to the new bank, the client encountered some trouble with FINRA because of the termination disclosure. Terminations are supposed to be disclosed to FINRA by the reporting firm. Client’s most recent employer had reported the termination to FINRA because it had not been reported by the previous employer. This led to some legal confusion with FINRA, and the client’s records made it appear that the client was terminated by their current employer. The current employer had no concerns with the financial advisor and knew the reasons behind their former termination. 

Fortunately, the new employer was willing to assist their employee in helping them get their name cleared after hiring HLBS Law. After 2 years of hard work, senior attorney Chelsea Bauer was able to work with the new employer and FINRA to successfully get the termination dispute expunged from FINRA’s Central Registration Department’s records, thus removing the disclosure from client’s BrokerCheck.

Photo by: Maksym Kaharlytskyi