An arbitration panel in the US has ordered E*Trade Securities,
Inc., the company behind the financial web site etrade.com, to pay
a total of $38,226 to compensate one of its customers, Morgan
Roach, for investment related losses as a result of a misstatement
on its site.
At the hearing, Mr. Roach proved that E*Trade misstated the
pricing of America Online share options during AOL's merger with
Netscape. When Mr. Roach traded based on this erroneous information
his account was wiped out and a debit balance was created. E*Trade
then sent Mr. Roach's account to a collection agency and provided
derogatory information to a credit reporting bureau.
One of the Californian lawyers for Mr. Roach, Robert Uhl, said
the case sends a message to E*Trade that “when firms make mistakes,
regardless of whether they are full service brick and mortar types
or internet based, they all have an obligation to act fairly when
they deal with their customers.”
