Securities Lawyers Blog
Our firm is investigating claims made by Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated (Stifel Nicolaus) when the firm terminated broker Jon Schmidhammer (Schmidhammer). According to the firm, Schmidhammer was discharged in July 2016 after allegation were made that Schmidhammer resigned after his arrest for allegedly stealing money from a client.
According to Schmidhammer’s brokercheck records Schmidhammer has no disclosed outside business activities. The providing of loans or selling of notes and other investments outside of a brokerage firm constitutes impermissible private securities transactions – a practice known in the industry as “selling away”. Often times brokers who engage in this practice use outside businesses in order to market their securities.
In October 2016 a customer filed a complaint alleging that Schmidhammer engaged in unsuitable management of their accounts, unauthorized trading, breach of fiduciary duty, and conversion. The complaint alleges damages of $500,000. The claim is currently pending.