In a rare move, a securities arbitration panel sided with a broker who alleged UBS AG had hurt his business model and team, although the broker also has to return bonus money.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority panel ordered UBS to pay Maryland broker Gary Padussis $933,000 in damages. However, it also ordered him to pay $1.7 million to the firm to cover bonus funds he received when he was hired in 2009, according to a ruling on Monday.

The finding against UBS is unusual among brokers who make similar allegations, lawyers said on Tuesday, even though the broker owes UBS a net payment of $767,000.

A UBS spokesman did not immediately respond to a call and emails requesting comment.

Padussis left UBS in 2013 after the firm allowed a broker who had a contract with him to work with another UBS broker instead, he told Reuters. Padussis said he lost clients to the other team because of the arrangement.

The arbitration case began in 2013 when UBS filed a claim against Padussis to recoup more than $1.7 million in bonus funds it said it gave him when he joined the firm.

Signing bonuses, often referred to as "employee forgivable loans," are paid by firms to brokers and other licensed securities professionals when they are hired. They are structured as loans forgiven over time, typically 7 to 10 years.

Brokers who leave the firm before the loan term is over must return part of the payment.

Padussis, however, filed a counterclaim against UBS, alleging, among other things, that it damaged his team's business model and client relationships, according to the ruling. He sought more than $10 million in damages and an accounting of clients who moved to the other team and who are still at UBS.

The Finra panel did not explain the reasons for its decision, as is typical of arbitration awards.

It is "highly unusual" for brokers to obtain substantial awards against their former brokerage firms for damage to their business, especially when the brokers still owe bonus money, said Michael Sullivan, a lawyer in Morristown, New Jersey, who represents brokers. Sullivan was not involved in the case.

Padussis, a 25-year industry veteran, has since launched Cape Investment Management in Baltimore, and Cape May, New Jersey.

"The brokerage has a duty when a financial adviser may come on board to protect that financial adviser and his clients," Padussis said. "The financial adviser has a duty to perform for the firm. But when one of the sides breaks the duty and it can't be fixed, these are the circumstances you get out of it."