A FINRA arbitration panel has ruled that a former Merrill Lynch adviser, who left the firm to join U.S. Bancorp Investments, cannot solicit business from his former clients for one year, but says he is allowed to engage in more generalized advertising and mailings that are not targeted to specific Merrill clients. Chad Roy Sillman, formerly an adviser in Las Vegas for Merrill Lynch, a Bank of America Corp. unit, took large amounts of customer data and proprietary information when he left the firm in October to join US Bancorp, according to documents Merrill filed in a Nevada state court.  The legal wrangling began in October when Merrill filed a court action in Nevada to request that Sillman be temporarily halted from soliciting former clients until FINRA arbitrators ruled in the case.  Sillman managed more than $43 million in assets which generated over $400,000 in commission revenue for Merrill Lynch during the preceding 12 months, according to the court filing. The case highlights the risks that advisers take when they move between firms that have not both agreed to the Protocol for Broker Recruiting, or "the Protocol," an agreement intended to minimize legal disputes. Firms that participate agree not to sue each other when brokers leave, as long as the brokers stick to rules about the type of client information they bring to their new firm. Those details are basic and include client names, mailing addresses and telephone numbers.  U.S. Bancorp doesn't participate in the Protocol. Merrill Lynch, U.S. Bancorp, Sillman had no comment. [Reuters 12/22/11]