Tradewallstreet Latest Broker To Join Protocol

July 2, 2010 - PRLog -- The “Broker Protocol” is a voluntary agreement among financial services firms which makes job transitioning easier for Financial Advisors.

Moving a practice from one firm to another has never been an easy process. In addition to the practical difficulties of getting clients to move from one firm to another, Advisors often worry that they may run afoul of firm regulations, and face reprisals including litigation. In the current market environment, these fears are heightened. Financial Services firms are increasingly determined to  hold on to the valuable accounts and assets.

That's where the Protocol comes in. It creates a standard of practices and procedures, which, if the Advisors follow it, guarantees freedom from litigation, and ease of movement between firms. The Protocol also serves clients by establishing additional standard to keep their data private.

But not all firms are signatory to the agreement. But at this point some nearly 500 firms have opted in, making transitions that much easier for Advisors, and ensuring the continued privacy of client information at the signatory firms. There are, however, several thousand firms remaining that have not adopted the protocol.  

TradeWallStreet Financial is the latest firm to sign the voluntary agreement. According to Rogan LaBier, Vice President of Team Development at the firm, “the agreement gives broker and advisors an added level of comfort, and a standard to follow. It's good news for firms, for broker advisors, and for the industry as a whole.”

LaBier goes on to say that the impetus for becoming signatory came from potential recruits. “We had several Advisors coming over from firms which were not signatory, and they were concerned about potential negative repercussions.” That lead TWS to investigate the letter, and to become signatory. “We're lucky,” says LaBier “in that TWS has the wherewithal to make decisions like this on an orderly basis. Some firms get hamstrung in internal politics or bureaucracy, and in the end nothing gets done. We were able to turn this around for the Advisors in several days.”

The Protocol was created in 2004 between Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, and UBS Financial Services, Inc. Though it has been available since 2004, the Protocol seems to be just gaining momentum lately, with  the majority of signatory firms having become so within the last year or two.

Membership in the Protocol as administrated by the SIFMA, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. SIFMA is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA).