Bear Stearns asked a court last night for an injunction to prevent five former employees from using client lists in their new jobs at other banks.
Bear Stearns asked the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan to force the former employees to return client lists or papers they had taken from the company and to prevent them from contacting Bear Stearns' clients for the purpose of taking their business to their new employers, UBS and Morgan Stanley.
Bear said in its court filing that former employees who solicited its clients were violating contractual obligations.
Bear asked for a restraining order and a preliminary injunction as it prepares an arbitration claim for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
The request for an injunction comes as Bear Stearns struggles to hang onto clients after a run on the bank forced it earlier this month to agree to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase for a fraction of its prior market value.
Morgan Stanley and UBS declined to comment.