Veteran financial advisor Christopher Andreach is returning to RBC Capital Management, a little over two months after he left for UBS Financial Services and RBC filed a temporary restraining order against him for misappropriating confidential information.
On Monday, RBC announced in a news release that Andreach is returning “home” to RBC Wealth Management (U.S.) and will be joining the firm's Florham Park, N.J., branch. The release noted that Andreach is one of several RBC Wealth Management employees who have returned to the company in recent years.
“I am humbled to be invited back to RBC, because it’s a place I do love. They did identify a few honest mistakes I made on my way out, but the fact I am welcomed back speaks volumes of the firm’s culture,” Andreach said in an emailed statement from RBC.
He further stated in the release that, “It took leaving to realize that the grass truly is greener at RBC Wealth Management. The firm’s local and national leadership is approachable, accessible and supportive of their advisors, and I am confident that RBC Wealth Management is the best place for my clients and my practice.”
Andreach, who joined RBC in 2004 and was based in the Red Bank, N.J., office, “abruptly resigned” on September 3, along with his longtime associate, Mary G. Guastella, and moved to the Red Bank UBS office that same day, according to the temporary restraining order filed by RBC on September 17 in U.S. District Court in the District of New Jersey.
The complaint requested a cease-and-desist order, claiming that Andreach and Guastella walked off with “highly confidential and proprietary customer information in violation of the Defend Trade Secret Act and Minnesota and New Jersey state law trade secret statutes, in addition to common law claims.”
The 21-page document accused Andreach and Guastella of planning and gathering information weeks before their anticipated exit. “Upon information and belief, defendants acting separately and in concert, have gained possession of customers’ personal financial information—entrusted to RBC with the understanding of its confidentiality—by unlawful means, which information includes customer account numbers, balances, other positions held, and other personal information, which is being improperly used to solicit RBC’s customers to join UBS,” the complaint said. RBC had also accused UBS as being an accomplice.
Court documents showed that a scheduled hearing set for September 28 was canceled, and the case was dropped.
“Having an advisor return to RBC Wealth Management in such a short time is an enormous testament to RBC’s culture,” said Tom Sagissor, president of RBC Wealth Management, U.S, in a statement. “Top advisors continue to see that RBC Wealth Management is the destination of choice, and our commitment to supporting the client-advisor experience is unlike anywhere else in the industry.”