A federal court judge in Georgia sided with new registered investment advisor OpenArc Corporate Advisory by dismissing a temporary restraining order requested in a lawsuit filed against it by its former wirehouse employer, Merrill Lynch.
Dynasty Financial Partners, OpenArc’s platform provider and minority investor, and custodian Charles Schwab were also named in Merrill’s court filing requesting injunctive relief and a temporary restraining order on the RIA’s work with clients.
Judge Victoria Calvert in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Georgia denied Merrill’s request for injunctive relief and TRO requested last week, according to a spokesperson for Dynasty Financial Partners, OpenArc’s platform provider and minority investor, which was also named in the lawsuit.
According to the Dynasty spokesperson, Charles Schwab, the firm’s custodian, has also avoided the order with the ruling.
“Today’s court decision is a watershed moment for the wealth management industry,” Dynasty founder and CEO Shirl Penney said in a statement. “The judge found no evidence to show that the Protocol for Broker Recruitment was not followed. The court also noted that OpenArc, Dynasty and Schwab acted in good faith.”
In a lawsuit filed a week ago, Merrill accused OpenArc, Dynasty, and Schwab of running a “premeditated corporate raid” to lure the institutional-focused, Atlanta-based team out of the wirehouse to form the $129 billion RIA. The firm’s lead advisors, previously with Merrill’s Global Corporate and Institutional Advisory Services division, were named in the lawsuit, with allegations that the firm could do “irreparable harm” to Merrill without the court’s intervention.
OpenArc, which announced its formation the day after the lawsuit was filed, denied the allegations and said the group had adhered to the Broker Protocol—which it had recently joined—in dealing with the transition. Dynasty and Schwab also denied the claims and called them baseless.
Tuesday’s ruling allows OpenArc to continue communicating with clients, according to the Dynasty spokesperson.
Merrill representatives did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication.
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