By Bill Singer

Steven Robert Tomlinson entered the financial industry in 1981, and over a 20 year span worked for various firms before joining a Corning , NY credit union in 2001 as a financial advisor in its investment services group –by 2003, he became the group manager. During the relevant times in this matter, the credit union was affiliated with Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (?FINRA?) member firm Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. (“RJFS“), and Tomlinson was an employee of both the credit union and registered with RJFS.
Salary Versus Commission
In 2008, Tomlinson learned from a magazine article that a registered representative with whom he had trained years earlier had built a business at another broker-dealer firm to pass along to his son. That success story seemed to have troubled Tomlinson, who also desired to leave a business for his son but was growing concerned about the inherent limitations in his credit union’s salary-based compensation system versus the brokerage industry?s commission structure. Consequently, the magazine article may have fanned the embers of Tomlinson?s desire to move on and move up.
Walkin’ Over To Wachovia
Toward the end of June 2008, Tomlinson began talking to a friend at Wachovia about an opening in a nearby branch office; and in October 2008, Tomlinson visited a St. Louis, MO, Wachovia office. Tomlinson must have liked the grass on the other side of the fence because he soon decided to leave the credit union and RJFS to join Wachovia, where his new position offered a small payment for managing the branch coupled with the potential for much greater commission-based compensation.
You’re On Notice
As a credit union manager, Tomlinson was familiar with the organization?s compliance manual, which, in pertinent part stated:

Associates may not share customer information with third parties unless specifically authorized by the client. Customer and confidential information may not be removed from a Raymond James office without the branch manager’s permission.

Further, the credit union?s compliance manual prohibited financial associates (subject to client authorization) from transmitting non-public or personally identifiable information (e.g., social security number, financial account numbers, net worth, income, tax bracket) to a third party for non-business purposes. Also, Tomlinson had signed a financial advisor agreement with RJFS and the credit union in which he agreed, among other things, not to remove records from the premises of the investment group without prior authorization and not to disclose to any person any non-public customer information.
Wachovia?s Instructions
In contemplation of his joining Wachovia, that firm had instructed Tomlinson that the only information he could bring with him was in the nature of a “Christmas card list;” i.e., the names, phone numbers and addresses of his clients. Wachovia conveyed the instruction several times in several different ways, including during a discussion at the St. Louis recruiting meeting and also memorialized in a ?Financial Advisor Integration Planner” given to Tomlinson by the senior vice president who had handled his recruitment. The Planner stated in bold-face type that financial advisors were not allowed to bring “client statements, account numbers, social security …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Technology