An NASD arbitration panel found A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. liable for $258,300 for failure to properly supervise broker Robert Canfield.
In 2004, Stephen Sokol attended an A.G. Edwards seminar, after which Mr. Sokol opened an account with A.G. Edwards and transferred in a number of securities purchased at another brokerage firm including a variable annuity which contained his only death benefit.
When the account was established, Mr. Sokol told St. Louis-based A.G. Edwards that he has a serious heart condition, making him uninsurable.
When Mr. Sokol decided that he wanted to sell some he left the decision on which ones to sell to Mr. Canfield, an Irvine, Calif.-based broker, who liquidated his variable annuity, which eliminated his death benefit.
The annuity had a value of approximately $200,000 and was sold for less than $3,400, Mr.’s Sokol’s attorney Philip Aidikoff said in a statement.
The panel levied $180,000 in compensatory damages and $78,300 for attorneys’ fees and expert witness fees against the Mr. Canfield, the law firm of Aidikoff, Uhl & Bakhtiari said in a statement.