The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Sept. 17 declined to overturn a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel’s award of $10.25 million in deferred pay to two former Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. financial advisers (Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. v. Smolchek).
The award to Tamara Smolchek and Meri Ramazio includes $5 million in punitive damages.
In petitioning the court to overturn the award, Merrill alleged that Bonnie Pearce, the chairman of the panel, failed to disclose that her attorney husband had “past adverse relationships” to the firm because he ...
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