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Merrill Lynch is not the only wirehouse that forbids its financial advisors from trading cryptocurrencies and their derivatives. Brokers at Wells Fargo, UBS, Morgan Stanley and RBC are also not allowed to offer the new asset class to clients, the companies confirmed Thursday morning.
In a memo sent Dec. 8 to its brokers, Merrill Lynch banned them from pitching bitcoin-related investments and from executing client requests to trade Grayscale’s Bitcoin Investment Trust Fund (OTC:GBTC), citing concerns over suitability. Clients will have the opportunity to sell existing positions in the related securities if they have any, according to the memo.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the ban Wednesday.
Merrill Lynch is not the only brokerage with concerns and policies banning bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and related investments for their retail wealth management clients.
Wells Fargo does not allow advisors to trade or pitch either GBTC or bitcoin futures, launched in December. The same policy applies to advisors who are part of the independent Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, said...