The brokers argued that Barclays broke a promise to develop a life insurance product for them to sell to clients, their lawyer said. He also cited an "intolerable" cultural climate that ultimately led to the dismissal of Barclays' top wealth executives in London and the U.S. to explain his clients' brief sojourn at the Barclays Plc unit.

Celenza and DiGioia have not decided whether to take the rare move of seeking to vacate the Finra arbitration decision, Riffer said.

A Merrill Lynch spokesman declined to comment on whether the firm would pay any of the brokers' costs.

Jeff Goldberg, a lawyer at Palmer, Lombardi & Donohue, which represented Barclays, said he was not authorized to speak immediately on behalf of his client.

Celenza and DiGioia joined Barclays for their short stint in March 2012 after working 12 and 11 years, respectively, at Morgan Stanley and predecessor firm Smith Barney, according to FINRA's BrokerCheck database.

First « 1 2 » Next