Six month’s ago (May 19, 2009) I solicited my FA to exchange my market to a more aggressive funds (latin american and china equity ) but he forgot to made the exchange, obviously the funds are up a huge percentage, but my is still in mmkt’s.

is there a rule, regulation or law that protects me against claims five month ago??

 

  • A nobody 4:30 pm on August 14, 2010

    You’re chances of any retribution is slim to none.

    Yes there are rules that protect you BUT not in the case you have described. The rules state that you must receive or have available a confirmation of all transactions, within twenty four hours of the trade. Also in the past several months, you have been receiving statements or they were available to you, and the "missing" trades did not appear in your account. The rule is that the firm must provide you with or make available to you, a detailed statement of your account at least quarterly.

    It appears there was a misunderstanding about your instructions to your FA, and you should have followed up within two days of the "supposed" transactions.

    The results of your claim is also dependent on the number of transactions you have made with the firm, your overall experience you have in making investments and the length of time you have been with the firm. If this was your first transaction, you may have a case (very slight) but if you have some experience with investing, the snow ball has a better chance.
    The same rules that protect you also protect the firm by mandating that they provide confirmation of transactions and detailed statements of your account’s activities..

    Rather than bring your case to YA, you should have presented first to the FA, then to the company since they are the ones to properly resolve your problem.
    There are some of use here on YA that have extension experience in such matters but we’ll be providing you with responses that you may not like to hear.
    Based on experience, you should submit your claim in writing to the FA with a copy to the firm’s compliance officer (you submit it to the branch manager).

    One responder stated that you should contact a lawyer. In your new account agreement, it states that alll discrepeancies, and claims will be handled by aritration , which means must present you case, in writing, to FINRA or the exchange, depending on the firm’s memberships. Getting a lawyer at this point in time would be costly.

  • dusty_titus 4:30 pm on August 14, 2010

    That order would have had to been in writing, and you FA would have had to acknowledge it in writing – You could try to sue your FA for funds that you didn’t earn, because of his/her negligence – see a Attorney for advice.

  • The Old Guy 4:30 pm on August 14, 2010

    :A Nobody" gave you a correct response that seems to be based on experience.

    There are rules & regulations that protect customers from errors or wrong doings, in fact, all the rules in the securities industry protects the customer, even from their own stupidity, and not one of them protects the broker.

    However, it appears that you did not follow the rule of basic common sense and look at your account or followed up with your broker.
    Five months is a bit much to "claim" any wrong doings on the part of the firm. As "A Nobody" stated, the broker has 24 hours to notify you or make available to you any transactions in your account and must provide you with a statement of your account at least quarterly, if they have done that, they are protected.

    If you want to file a protest or complaint, it must be done in writing, You should send a letter to the FA with a copy to their manager. In the letter you must spell out all th details as you understand them. The firm must, by law, respond to you in writing. Your next step is to send a letter of complaint to FINRA along with a copy of the letter you sent to the firm along with a copy of their response.

    Until you do all of the above, contacting a lawyer would be a total waste of time and money, as would seeking further help from people here on YA.

    Good luck with this, but I agree, the snow ball has a better chance.