...Schooley soon found out that his office co-workers and supervisors were playing a bit fast and loose with their own guidelines in order to pass exams and win contests. When Schooley notified Merrill Lynch of violations of the ethics code as set down in their own documentation, his findings were hardly received with cries of joy. Rather, a cover-up on the scale of the Watergate break-in resulted.

...As far as taking care of the customer, including doing all in the customer’s best interest and fully informing a client about the financial products they were investing in, that was not even a consideration. As one supervisor put it “Just sell.”

Why read this book? The arbitration proceedings, which form a greater part of the book, are interesting to see how these guys operate. The view into a brokerage office will make you think again about the trust and faith you may be putting in your broker.