Jan 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission upheld disciplinary sanctions against a former broker at a Bank of America unit who copied confidential information for about 36,000 customers and emailed it to another brokerage he was joining.

Dante ("Dan") DiFrancesco violated a securities industry rule that sets general standards for brokers when he downloaded the client data onto a flash drive while leaving the former Banc of America Investment Securities in 2007, the SEC ruled. He was not accused of using the data improperly.

DiFrancesco, of Croton-on-Hudson, New York, appealed his case to the SEC in 2011 after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined DiFrancesco $10,000 and imposed a 15-day suspension in 2010, according to an SEC opinion dated Friday. He did not respond to a telephone message left with a family member.

The case is an unusual example of disciplinary sanctions related to information that a broker took from one firm when trying to join another, according to Matthew Farley, a securities lawyer for Drinker Biddle & Reath in New York. Similar disputes often play out in arbitration cases and court actions between the broker and a former employer.

But one thing makes the DiFrancesco case stand out: the broker planned to bring about 200 clients to the new brokerage, but downloaded and e-mailed personal information for 36,000 customers.

DiFrancesco's troubles began in 2007 when he was leaving Banc of America Investment Securities for National Securities Corp, a unit of National Holdings Corp.

A Bank of America spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

While still employed at Banc of America Investment Securities, DiFrancesco downloaded his clients' information and tried to email it to his home account, according to the opinion. But the company's email system intercepted the message.

DiFrancesco agreed to leave the firm after a manager learned of that message. Before leaving, he downloaded his client's information onto a flash drive that he took home with him. He later testified at the FINRA hearing that he didn't realize until after he left that he had downloaded details about 36,000 clients.

DiFrancesco then emailed the entire list to a National Securities Corp manager along with a note explaining that he was having trouble exporting his client's data from the list.

The National Securities Corp manager testified at the FINRA hearing that he deleted the e-mail and spreadsheet after reviewing it. The firm is not accused of any wrongdoing. A National Securities Corp. spokeswoman didn't immediately return a call requesting comment.

DiFrancesco has not been registered with FINRA since April, 2011, according to regulatory filings.

The SEC wrote that DiFrancesco "favored his own interest in maintaining his client database over the confidentiality of customers' nonpublic information."

His "biggest mistake" was not returning the client information when he realized his error, said Thomas Lewis, a securities lawyer for Stark & Stark in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

"I don't think there's a FINRA panel or court that would ever permit that type of behavior to occur," he said.

(Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn)

Follow us on Twitter: @ReutersLegal