The Supreme Court of British Columbia has ordered an investment advisor to return client list information to his former firm, National Bank Financial Inc. (NBF), but the court denied the firm’s request for an injunction to prevent the solicitation of clients to switch firms.

According to the court decision dated May 24, NBF sued one of its former Vancouver-based brokers, Dwight Cameron Mann, members of the Mann Group team, and his new firm, Canaccord Genuity Corp., in connection with the team’s move from NBF to Canaccord in April.

When the Mann Group moved from NBF, it served approximately 2,500 clients (1,200 families) with $725 million in assets under management (AUM).

NBF sought an injunction restraining the defendants from “disclosing or making use of client information and/or soliciting the plaintiff’s clients,” the court decision stated, along with an order requiring the defendants to return all copies of information related to clients, among other things.

The B.C. Supreme Court granted the order requiring the defendants to return certain client information to NBF, but denied the other orders sought by NBF.

Ultimately, NBF “failed to demonstrate a strong prima facie case that the non-solicitation provisions it relies upon are enforceable,” the court stated.

“In the context of clients being served by investment advisors who move firms, the interests of the clients must be put ahead of those of the firm,” the court added.

The court indicated there also are public interest factors to consider in deciding whether to grant an injunction, including clients’ rights to work with whomever they want, and the right for employees to compete in their industry.

“Brokerage houses do not ‘own’ their clients,” the court stated. “Clients should be free to receive information from all competitive sources and to have the ability to decide if they wish to follow their investment advisor to the new brokerage house or stay with the old one.”

Additionally, the court found that the loss of the clients would not do irreparable harm to a firm as large as NBF.

“The plaintiff employs over 2,700 people in 86 offices across Canada. It has assets under its management exceeding $400 billion. There is no evidence regarding the quantum of the fees the plaintiff earned from the Mann Group. It is likely that the overall financial impact of the loss of the clients managed by the Mann Group will be relatively small,” the court stated.