A dispute over how to handle a lawsuit has led prominent Wall Street bank analyst Richard Bove to leave his post at Ladenburg Thalmann and join Rochdale Securities.
Bove has been the subject of a lawsuit filed by BankAtlantic Corp. that placed the outspoken analyst at loggerheads with Ladenburg over whether to reach a settlement or take the dispute to court.
BankAtlantic in July sued Ladenburg claiming that Bove tarnished its reputation by including it in a research report entitled, “Who’s Next?,” suggesting the bank was at risk of failing.
Bove has claimed that the lawsuit has no merit.
BankAtlantic has managed to do what other bank execs have been unable to do so far: Muzzle the opinionated analyst.
Bove has not been allowed to make media appearances or conduct interviews with reporters for the past several months due to the lawsuit.
And for Bove, a 50-year Wall Street veteran who has been a regular on CNBC, Fox Business Network and other news outlets, the silence couldn’t have come at a worse time given that it took him out of the spotlight during the historic economic crisis.
“The only way I could protect Ladenburg from more legal fees was to leave the firm and see if I can’t get it resolved on my own,” Bove told Bloomberg.