A settlement has been reached between Stifel Financial and a group of investors who won a $132.5 million arbitration award against the brokerage firm, according to AdvisorHub.
The award was issued In March 2025 by a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority panel which sided with Stifel clients David Jannetti of Miami and his three children in a dispute over the risky structured note strategy of broker Chuck A. Roberts.
According to a court filing, the Jannetti family filed a notice that “the parties have agreed to a settlement in principle of this matter” and asked the court to stay the litigation for 30 days as the two sides finalize the agreement.
A Stifel spokesperson declined to comment.
The reported settlement comes after a federal district judge in Miami last month rejected an attempt by Stifel Financial to vacate the arbitration award.
The Jannettis alleged that they were misled into believing that Stifel was using low-risk structured notes in their investments. They contended that Stifel failed to exercise “any adequate supervision” as Roberts assured them that the structured notes would preserve their principal while offering long term average returns of 12.25%.
The plaintiffs accused the Missouri-based firm of breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, negligent supervision, fraud, breach of contract, and violation of the Florida Securities and Investor Protection Act. In ruling against Stifel, the FINRA arbitrators said that Stifel “had actual knowledge of the wrongfulness of the conduct and the high probability that injury or damage to [the Jannettis] would result and, despite that knowledge, intentionally pursued that course of conduct, resulting in damage.”
In its motion challenging the arbitrators’ decision, Stifel contended that one of the FINRA arbitrators, Stephanie Charny, was biased and refused to recuse herself from the case even though Stifel requested that she do so. The firm alleged that a previous FINRA arbitration ruling involving similar claims against Stifel and Roberts demonstrated Charny’s prejudice. In that case, $14.3 million was awarded to Louis and Elizabeth Deluca and their business, UBS Inc.
“Stifel maintains this was a runaway and unjust arbitration award that resulted from a biased arbitrator who prejudged the case and an unfair FINRA process,” a firm spokesperson has said.
U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles denied Stifel’s motion to vacate the award, agreeing with a magistrate judge who stated that Stifel waited too long to object to Charney, noting that they had selected her as an arbitrator in both cases and knew during the course of the prior case that there was a risk she could rule against it.
The Jannettis had been seeking $12 million in prejudgment interest and roughly $30,000 per day in interest as long as the award remained unpaid.
The attorneys at Hyman Cotter have handled hundreds of arbitrations before FINRA, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade, JAMS, the American Arbitration Association and other self-regulatory organizations nationwide. We have also appeared in courts throughout the United States in various securities-related matters. For more information about our arbitration and litigation services, please contact Hyman Cotter at (833) 665-0784 or through our online contact form.
