Edward Jones Defeats Clients’ Fee-Based Account Suit, For Now

Edward D. Jones & Co. clients who say they were aggressively pushed into fee-based accounts saw their state law fiduciary breach claims dismissed, for now at least, by a California federal judge one year after the Ninth Circuit allowed these claims to move forward.

The clients’ new legal theory—that Edward Jones wouldn’t have recommended fee-based accounts had it done a proper suitability analysis before talking to them—is set forth in their opposition filing but not in their operative complaint, Judge John A. Mendez of the US District Court for the Eastern District of California said Monday. Mendez dismissed the case ...