Robert W. Baird & Co.

Robert W. Baird & Co. (Baird) was founded in 1919 as the securities arm of the First Wisconsin National Bank. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Baird is an employee-owned wealth management, capital markets, asset management and private equity firm with $105 billion under management.

Baird has been the subject of many regulatory investigations, some which resulted in disciplinary actions by regulators.

Source: FINRA, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. Full Disciplinary Reports Available to the public at: finra.org.

Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. (CRD #8158, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which the firm was censured and fined $37,500. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm [Baird] consented to the described sanctions and the entry of findings that it failed to disclose information or disclosed inaccurate information to customers. Specifically, the firm incorrectly disclosed its compensation as commission, failed to disclose that transactions were executed at an average price, incorrectly disclosed that shares were executed at an average price and/or incorrectly disclosed that the price reflected on the price reflected on the confirmation was the reported trade price when the shares were executed at an average price. (FINRA Case #2010021588301)

Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. (CRD #8158, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which the firm was censured and fined $50,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm [Baird] consented to the described sanctions and the entry of findings that it failed to maintain an adequate supervisory system. A review of the firm’s written supervisory procedures and supervisory system related to the detection and prevention of prohibited, potentially manipulative and potentially suspicious trading activity found that the firm failed to establish such a system. Specifically, it was found that although the firms written supervisory procedures prohibited the firm’s financial advisory from facilitating executions of cross trades with no beneficial change of ownership, the procedures failed to describe the steps the supervisor should take to review for such conduct or how such a review should be documented. In addition, the firm failed to establish and implement an adequate Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program and AML policies and procedures that are required by banking legislation. (FINRA Case #2009017614601)

Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. (CRD #8158, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which the firm was censured and fined $500,000. The firm was also ordered to pay restitution of $434,510 plus interest to investors. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm [Baird] consented to the described sanctions and the entry of findings that it failed to establish and maintain an adequate supervisory system, including written procedures, reasonably designed to review and monitor its fee-based business. The findings came from a review of Baird’s fee-based brokerage business. They failed to adequately monitor the activity in fee-based accounts to ensure that they remained appropriate for its customers. They also failed to implement breakpoint discounts specified in their fee schedule contained in the firm’s account agreements. Also, the firm did not adequately disclose to customers what assets were considered in calculating quarterly fees. (FINRA Case #20070094878 and 20070114046)

Silver Law Group is a nationally recognized securities and investment fraud law firm with Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ “AV” rated lawyers that handle all securities arbitration matters on a contingency fee basis. The Law Firm, at no cost to investors will review account activity and account statements to determine whether there was any misconduct, whether there are damages and the legal causes of action. We investigate all sales practice violations, while taking into consideration the investor’s age, investment background, and the relationship between the investor and the brokerage firm and its financial advisor. According to securities industry rules and regulations, unsuitable investment advice, securities concentration, fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions of material facts, breach of fiduciary duty, conflicts of interest, variable annuity switching are among the causes of action that may be available to investors in claims for damages against brokerage firms and their financial advisors in a securities arbitration claim filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). We represent investors in FINRA arbitration claims on a contingency fee basis.

To learn more call us at (954) 755-4799 or Toll Free at (800) 975-4345