A panel of arbitrators has sided with a former Merrill Lynch broker who was seeking to clear his BrokerCheck record of a customer dispute, according to AdvisorHub.
The three public arbitrators with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority decided in favor of Brian J. Mariash, a 24-year-old industry veteran from Sarasota, Florida.
Mariash sought to expunge customers’ allegations that transfers and purchases of equity indexed and variable annuities he made for them were unsuitable.
The FINRA arbitrators found the allegations to be false and allowed Mariash to have them cleared from his record, stating that the customers “often made spurious complaints and quickly withdrew or dropped them.”
The investors filed the complaint soon after Mariash went to work at UBS Wealth Management in 2023 and was no longer representing them, the award states. After discussing the matter with the broker, Merrill informed the customers that the claims were unfounded and that the advisor’s actions were appropriate.
Mariash’s BrokerCheck profiled showed that the complaint, which said he was not acting in the customers’ best interest from Feb., 24, 2020, to Dec. 18, 2023, regarding equity indexed annuities, was denied. The customers “took no further action with regard to their complaints and remained clients” of Mariash, according to the award.
The arbitration panel conducted a recorded hearing by videoconference on March 3, so the parties could present oral argument and evidence on Mariash’s request for expungement. Mariash appeared by videoconference at the expungement hearing. Merrill Lynch appeared at the expungement hearing but the customers did not.
Brandon Taaffe and Travis Taaffe of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, who represented Mariash, did not respond to a request for comment on the decision. Mariash did not respond to a request for comment sent through social media. A Merrill Lynch spokesperson declined to comment.
In November 2024, Mariash had accused Merrill of defamation, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty under its deferred compensation plan, among others, according to the award. Mariash claimed that he was “faced with a campaign of defamation and improper client retention practices” by the wirehouse following his departure to UBS.
Merrill and Mariash settled those claims in June 2025 for undisclosed terms, according to the award.
The attorneys at Hyman Cotter have considerable experience with FINRA’s procedures for expunging false, defamatory and erroneous disclosures from a registered representative’s record. This experience includes seeking expungement in existing FINRA customer and employment arbitrations, as well as filing separate FINRA arbitrations for the sole purpose of seeking expungement. If you have any concerns about problematic disclosures on your CRD record or those that are viewable on FINRA’s BrokerCheck portal, contact Hyman Cotter at (833) 665-0784 or through our online contact form for a free consultation.
