Financial Industry Disputes

Were you denied your annual bonus? If you met performance expectations in the financial industry and your employer failed to pay your bonus, you may still be legally entitled to receive this compensation. This is particularly true if your bonus was a substantial part of your annual pay and was withheld for arbitrary or improper reasons.

The financial industry’s unique rules for managing compensation disputes are enforced in private arbitration where fairness, rather than a strict application of the law, is prioritized. This means financial industry employees have more opportunity for monetary recovery in the event of a compensation or bonus dispute with their employer.

Toward that end, you need immediate access to employment attorneys who know their way around Wall Street and the special employment dispute rules applicable to only the financial industry. The litigators in at our firm have extensive experience in this area, including settling bonus disputes on behalf of Managing Directors, Directors, Vice Presidents, Associates, Analysts, Accountants, and many other financial industry employees.

Discretionary Bonuses

If you work in the Financial Industry, odds are your compensation is largely discretionary and based on your performance, that of your desk or group, or both. However, Wall Street employers often insist that bonuses are discretionary when they are not. Further, even if a bonus is truly discretionary, employers may exercise discretion in favor of payment when verbal reassurances are made by managers that a bonus will be paid. If you were terminated during the calendar year and denied a year-end bonus, you may have legal recourse, possibly even a part-year bonus.

Legal Recourse for Financial Industry Employees

Our firm is prepared to advocate for you and fight for what you are entitled to receive as part of your compensation. Call us today and let us know how we can best partner with you to develop a working resolution that is specific to your needs.

Licensed stockbrokers and other Financial Industry employees involved in selling financial products such as Financial Advisors, Financial Representatives, and Financial Associates are usually paid by sales commission and draw. Many financial brokerages also offer bonuses when brokers meet certain sales goals. However, bonus compensation and any nonguaranteed portion of the broker’s draw is usually advanced to the broker.  It is subject to repayment under the terms of a promissory note, or some other loan arrangement, executed between the broker and the brokerage.

While broker compensation may seem appealing to the novice entering the profession, a great number of brokers end up in financial distress, even bankruptcy, and wash out of the profession if they cannot build a book of business. When this happens, the broker’s former employer will seek to enforce the terms of the note with regard to any advanced bonus compensation or nonguaranteed draw has not been repaid.

There are many ways in which a broker can attempt to defend against a breach of contract enforcement action by a brokerage. Most brokerages are required to bring breach of contract actions as an arbitration before FINRA.  FINRA is the private regulatory agency responsible for monitoring financial industry transactions and disputes.

Our attorneys have handled many of these disputes before on behalf of brokers.  They know how to aggressively defend against the brokerages, even go on the offensive, in order to eliminate or reduce the overwhelming and unfair debt obligations imposed on brokers who, even in good faith, simply can’t get up on their feet. We work with our broker clients to find the most cost efficient fee arrangement for them, and we know how to fight the big retail and investment banks and get results.