Morgan Stanley has sued three of its former financial advisers based in Honolulu, accusing them of taking more than 1,000 clients and account records when they left to work for a Merrill Lynch & Co. brokerage.

Carl E. Choy, Lynne R. Kinney and Ronald C. Wo violated employment agreements by soliciting clients and removing confidential records, Morgan Stanley said in a complaint filed Monday in federal court in Honolulu.

Before resigning from Morgan Stanley on Oct. 10, Kinney, Choy and Wo misappropriated confidential and proprietary information and used it to solicit business on behalf of Merrill Lynch, according to the complaint.

The three had serviced about 1,200 individual client accounts with combined assets under management of about $900 million, according to the complaint.

U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor on Monday issued a temporary restraining order barring the three from soliciting business from any clients they served while employed at Morgan Stanley.

Gillmor also barred them from using, disclosing or transmitting any information contained in the client records of Morgan Stanley, according to court records.

Neal Aoki, an attorney for the three employees, didn't immediately return a message left at his Honolulu office seeking comment.