Morgan Stanley Loses Arbitration Case
4/29/2003
An NASD arbitration panel ruled against Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, awarding $234,000 in restitution to a couple who argued a broker at the firm put them into investments that were too risky, lawyers said Tuesday.
According to the California law firm Aidikoff & Uhl, the clients, Robert and Sueellen Perry, were advised to invest in a portfolio that “was concentrated in technology securities that were unsuitable based on their financial needs and station in life.”
Calls to Morgan Stanley were not immediately returned.
The lawyers said the award resulted from Morgan Stanley’s (MWD: news, chart, profile) breach of fiduciary duty and its failure to supervise a broker named Mark Dupreez, based in Palm Desert, California.
“The brokerage firm defended the case by claiming that the downturn in the markets caused the losses,” Aidikoff & Uhl said in a press release. “The NASD panel rejected this argument. The award represents a return of all money lost plus interest at 10 percent.”
Aidikoff & Uhl said it currently represents some Morgan Stanley customers, as well as those of other Wall Street firms who have lost money “due to wrongful conduct of brokerage firms including misleading analyst recommendations.”