UBS Advisor Joins U.S. Capital After Contentious Compliance Review
From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law:
A UBS Wealth Management advisor who generated $3 million in annual revenue has joined U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors, which is a regional Texas-based firm run by a former UBS manager.
Stephen Tolbert, who oversaw $300 million in client assets, joined U.S. Capital in Houston, according to the firm’s CEO Patrick Mendenhall. Mendenhall departed UBS in 2009 and subsequently launched U.S. Capital not long after Mendenhall recruited Tolbert to UBS. Tolbert reportedly did not plan to leave UBS, but was prompted to join U.S. Capital after a routine compliance review became contentious, according to Mendenhall. UBS officials were allegedly concerned that Tolbert was not “forthcoming” when they requested permission to review two laptops Tolbert used to work remotely. Tolbert believed that he had not violated any rules, which prompted him to “push back”, and examiners claimed he was being “combative”, according to Mendenhall.
UBS might have been concerned that Tolbert was planning to depart the firm or subsequently reveal confidential client information. However, U.S. Capital’s attorneys examined the issue and determined that there was no regulatory violation or customer privacy risk, according to Mendenhall.
Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, regulatory and disciplinary matters.
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