In the News: Wells Fargo Advisors to Tell Customers They can Keep Data Away from Brokers

I was recently interviewed by AdvisorHub, a popular wealth management news source, to discuss the news that as of today, Wells Fargo Advisors will start telling customers of its private client group, that they can prevent their brokers from taking their contact information with them should the advisor leave the firm. According to sources, the decision to call attention to a broker’s potential departure was prompted by the fact that Wells Fargo was out of compliance with a consumer information privacy rule.

Wells Fargo’s decision reduces the protections brokers had under the Protocol for Broker Recruiting. As I state in the article, which you can read here, “This is further erosion of the Protocol. Other Protocol member firms who don’t have it in place already will move to get ahead of any possible future SEC action and update their privacy notices.” Stay tuned for more developments on this matter.

If you have any questions about this post or any other related matters, please email me at dtharmon@nmmlaw.com.