Ex-Merrill Lynch Adviser Seeks 4th Cir. Win Over Commission Plan

A former financial adviser for Bank of America Corp.'s investment management unit called on the Fourth Circuit to rule that the company’s deferred commission program violates federal laws limiting the forfeiture of deferred compensation.

The Merrill Lynch program requires financial advisers to contribute a portion of their commissions and allows those amounts to be forfeited if they voluntarily depart the company under certain circumstances within eight years. Plaintiff Kelly Milligan, who says he lost out on more than $500,000 because of this “cancellation rule,” urged the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to hold that the program is ...