An arbitration panels recent decision to deny Wells Fargo Advisors LLCs $30 million raiding claim against crosstown rival Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc. is just the tip of the iceberg in a six-year battle over advisers.More than a dozen raiding claims from Wells Fargo drove Stifel to file a complaint against its rival with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., alleging a “nationwide scorched-earth litigation campaign against Stifel” and an “ongoing abuse of the judicial and Finra arbitration process.”A first hearing on the case is scheduled to begin next March. In the claim, filed about a year ago but recently obtained by InvestmentNews, Stifel lays out 13 arbitration cases Wells Fargo Advisors has filed since 2007 that accuse Stifel of raiding its branch offices.AdvertisementRather than pursue legitimate claims, Wells Fargo Advisors has engaged in “restraint of trade, abusing the [arbitration] process and trying to intimidate people … from leaving,” said Ron Kruszewski, chief executive of St. Louis-based Stifel.In an interview, Mr. Kruszewski said he thinks he has a good shot at getting an award and stopping what he sees as a vendetta against Stifel by his larger competitor that began in 2007 when he started picking off former A.G. Edwards Inc. brokers after that St. Louis firm was acquired by Wachovia Securities LLC.Wachovia was later taken over by Wells Fargo & Co.
via Stifel turns tables on Wells Fargo with scorched earth claim.