Merrill Lynch office. (Photo: AP)
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority panel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, ordered Merrill Lynch to pay ex-Major League Baseball outfielder Angel Pagán and his wife, Windy Pagán, more than $2 million after a rep at the firm invested the couple's money in unsuitable Puerto Rico municipal bonds and closed-end bond funds.
In its decision, published by FINRA on its website Tuesday, the three-person FINRA panel decided that Merrill was liable for $1.7 million in compensatory damages; interest on that sum at the rate of 4.5% for each year from June 20, 2017; $88,758 in costs; and $750 for the reimbursement of the non-refundable portion of the filing fee.
Merrill provided a brief statement Wednesday, saying only it was "disappointed with the panel's decision."
The Pagáns, on the other hand, were "thrilled with the decision — the largest award against Merrill Lynch Puerto Rico to date — because the Arbitrators awarded virtually all of their losses," Lloyd R. Schwed, a partner at the law firm Schwed Kahle & Kress in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, who represented the claimants, told ThinkAdvisor by email Wednesday. A FINRA spokeswoman confirmed that it was indeed the largest award against Merrill in Puerto Rico to date.
"They trusted Merrill Lynch and their close Financial Advisor so this award has restored their trust in the system," Schwed said.
The Pagáns' lawyer, Lloyd Schwed, was pleased with the outcome.
Although the panel denied the claimants' request for $6 million in punitive damages, Schwed said: "FINRA Arbitrators award punitive damages in less than 5% of the cases that go to final award so the absence of punitive damages did not surprise us. But the Arbitrators clearly wanted to send a message to Merrill Lynch by awarding virtually all of the Pagáns' net losses." Schwed had reduced the amount of money in punitive damages being sought to $500,000 in his closing before the panel, he said.
