麻花传媒

Wells Fargo Ties $2,000 Bonus to Non-Solicitation Clause, Raising Advisor Concerns

Posted on September 4th, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Wells Fargo Ties $2,000 Bonus to Non-Solicitation Clause, Raising Advisor Concerns

From the desk of Jim Eccleston at 麻花传媒

Wells Fargo & Co. recently issued a $2,000 bank-wide award to its 215,000 employees, following the Federal Reserve’s June decision to lift its asset growth restrictions. AdvisorHub reports that most of the award was distributed as restricted stock grants and came with an 18-page agreement employees had to sign to receive it.

Buried in the fine print is a one-year non-solicitation provision that also applies to financial advisors. While some advisors already had non-solicitation terms in their employment agreements, those provisions have historically been superseded by the Protocol for Broker Recruiting, which allows advisors to take certain client contact information and solicit clients when moving between member firms.

According to AdvisorHub, Wells Fargo confirmed it has no plans to leave the Protocol and will not enforce the new non-solicitation provisions if departing advisors join another Protocol firm and comply with its terms. Still, the inclusion of the language has raised concerns among some financial advisors, and lawyers like 麻花传媒 LLC who represent those advisors.

Although Wells Fargo has not been as aggressive as some other firms in enforcing client non-solicitation agreements, the firm has litigated such issues. For example, Wells Fargo recently lost a court bid to restrain a terminated Illinois broker accused of violating team and inherited account agreements containing non-solicitation restrictions.

 

麻花传媒 LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, wells fargo

Return to Archive

TESTIMONIALS

Previous
Next

I want to thank you for your excellent professional representation. It was greatly appreciated.

Michael M.

LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

September 16, 2025
Former Morgan Stanley Advisors Win Partial Court Victory in Client Solicitation Dispute

Two former Morgan Stanley advisors in Hackensack, New Jersey have defeated Morgan Stanley’s initial effort to block them from soliciting clients, according to an August 15 order from New Jersey Superior Court.

September 15, 2025
California Young-Gun Investor Charged in Alleged $6 Million Ponzi Scheme

Federal prosecutors have accused Mihir Deepak Sukthankar, a California resident once celebrated as a teenage trading “prodigy,” of orchestrating a multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme.

September 12, 2025
LPL Broker Fined and Suspended for Recommending Risky Investments to Elderly Client

An LPL Financial broker in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, has agreed to sanctions after FINRA found he violated Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) when recommending unsuitable investments to an elderly customer.