Citibank’s (NYSE: C) Citigroup Global Capital Markets unit will be repaid a $960,000 signing-bonus from a broker in a case involving an alleged breach of contract, according to documents from an arbitration case.
An arbitration panel from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ordered Daniel J. Henrichs, a broker based out of Missouri, to pay the money to Citigroup Global Markets, a broker-dealer subsidiary of Citibank.
Citibank filed the case against Henrichs in 2009 stating that he the broker had “failed to meet his obligations” related to a signing bonus. The company argued that Henrich should have repaid the balance of his signing bonus upon his termination in 2008, but failed to do so according to the order.
W. Edwin Roussin, an attorney that represented Henrichs, said that his client was fired for allegedly giving Citigroup misinformation on his application form. Roussin did not discuss then nature of the information, but said that it was not relevant to the signing bonus.
Citibank was supposed to pay the signing bonus in installments during a seven-year period, but instead opted to pay it all at once, said Roussin. Roussin argued that the bonus presented to Henrichs was a “forgibable loan.”
The panel ordered both parties to split the $10,500 in forum fees.
