Stifel Financial has quietly written another check — this time for $850,000 — to resolve an arbitration claim tied to a former broker’s sale of complex structured notes, according to records disclosed on BrokerCheck.
The payment marks the latest chapter in a widening legal saga that has followed Chuck Roberts, a onetime Stifel representative who was barred from the securities industry in July after regulators found he sold unsuitable investments to clients.
A Trail of Arbitration Awards
The Stifel $850K Settlement comes on top of an already staggering total. To date, Stifel has paid nearly $182 million in arbitration awards and settlements stemming from Roberts’ conduct, BrokerCheck data show.
The most severe blow landed in March, when a FINRA arbitration panel ordered Stifel to pay nearly $133 million in damages. The firm has since filed a motion to vacate that award and is awaiting a ruling.
Despite the mounting costs, the legal tide has not yet receded. Stifel currently faces 23 pending arbitration claims, all alleging misrepresentation of structured notes and the unsuitability of those investments for Roberts’ clients.
