Cantor pays for personnel raid

Raymond James & Associates Inc. at the end of last month won an arbitration claim of $1.75 million against Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., with Raymond James alleging that Cantor Fitzgerald had unlawfully raided personnel and business from Raymond James taxable fixed-income branches in various locations. “I’m surprised. Usually these raiding cases get settled” before they go to arbitration, said Rick Peterson, a recruiter in Houston. That the case was likely to involve institutional business was also unusual. The definition of a raiding claim is when an opposing firm takes 30% of the people or production of a branch. Cases usually settle for about one-third that amount, he added. Raymond James & Associates is the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based employee rep arm of Raymond James Financial Inc., while Cantor Fitzgerald of New York specializes in bond trading. A spokeswoman for Raymond James, Anthea Penrose, said no one at the firm would comment on the award. Nneoma Njoku, a spokeswoman for Cantor Fitzgerald, did not respond to a request for a comment.