Morgan Stanley is hitting back against a former broker who is seeking to vacate a $1.2 million FINRA arbitration award on the grounds that one of the arbiters may have had conflicting interests.
The firm filed a motion in a federal court in New York seeking to confirm the award in favor of Morgan Stanley, arguing the ex-advisor, Rachael Leigh Konz, did not challenge the proceedings until after the panel ruled against her, court records show. The motion is asking the court to throw out her petition to vacate the award filed in June.
“First of all, when you move to vacate you absolutely cannot attack the merits of the arbitration,” says Konz’s attorney, Joshua Brinen, of the New York-based Brinen & Associates. “What we’re saying is something was improper in the actual proceeding itself, and therefore, to render a decision is in manifest disregard of the law. We’re asking for a do-over.”

Working closely with firms that negotiate promissory notes could have swayed the arbitrator’s decision, the petition argues.
In Morgan Stanley’s motion, the firm argues that Konz agreed to the panel before the award was handed down and waited to dispute the panel after the award went against her. “An initial pre-hearing conference was held and the parties accepted the composition of the panel, including arbitrator Mabry,” according to court documents filed by Morgan Stanley.
CEO Ron Kruszewski received praise for leading the firm's wealth management unit to a record for revenue, despite costly legal setbacks.
As Vice President, Underwriting Research and Development, Jackie Waas is involved in investigating and developing underwriting innovations, with an emphasis on concept development, research, presenting new ideas, and participating in concept validation activities.
She started her career with RGA in 2018 as Director of Underwriting Services, where she supported direct-to-consumer accelerated offerings, including assisting with the auditing of the e-underwriting program and helping develop digital health scores while supporting the Digital Health Data team.
Prior to joining RGA, Jackie was an Underwriting Business Consultant and automated underwriting systems subject matter expert with Legal & General America for four years after working in an underwriting capacity with the company for nine years. She also had five years of underwriting experience with AXA Equitable and formerly worked as a marketing manager for Steele Rubber Products.
Jackie received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in communications and a minor in psychology from Lenoir-Rhyne University in North Carolina. She is a Certified Fellow of the Academy of Life Underwriting, a Fellow of the Life Management Institute, and a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute. She is also an Associate, Reinsurance Administration; Associate, Insurance Agency Administration; and an Associate, Insurance Regulatory Compliance. Jackie also holds the Professional, Customer Service Institute designation, and she is a member of the Association of Home Office Underwriters.
Guizhou Hu is Vice President, VP, Head of Risk Analytics at RGA, where he supports global RGA underwriting initiatives and produces internal and external thought leadership pieces based on RGA's in-depth risk analytics. Before joining RGA in 2018, Guizhou served as Vice President, Chief Decision Analytics, for Gen Re and as a Senior Vice President for BioSignia Inc. Guizhou holds a medical degree from Beijing Medical University and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Cornell University.
An attorney for Morgan Stanley, Gregory Galterio, declined to comment.
“It doesn’t matter, because that’s not the point,” Brinen says, regarding when Konz decided to question the legitimacy of the arbitrators on the FINRA panel. “FINRA should have stopped it, and reset the arbitration.”
Brinen admits vacating a FINRA arbitration award is “exceedingly rare.”
Konz is an 18-year industry veteran and is currently registered with Merrill Lynch. She began her career with Citicorp Investment Services in 1999 and moved to Merrill Lynch a year later, per FINRA BrokerCheck records. She had stints at Wells Fargo and BancWest Investments, before landing at Morgan Stanley in 2013, per BrokerCheck.