Three more investment firms are refusing compensation recommendations from the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI), reports the dispute resolution service.
OBSI also announced on Thursday that it has finally eliminated its backlog of investment complaints, which surged in the wake of the financial crisis.
“The last cases in the investment backlog were among the most difficult to resolve with clients and firms, which is why they took the longest amount of time to close,” OBSI says, noting that while most of these cases were successfully resolved, three of them are ending with the firms refusing to compensate their client as recommended by OBSI.
These three refusals are the first ones announced so far in 2015, although the trend of firms resisting OBSI recommendations has been on the rise over the past several years.
Today, OBSI announced that Sentinel Financial Management Corp. is refusing its recommendations to compensate two different investors that had complaints involving the same advisor. OBSI found they were sold “off-book” investments, and that the advisor then deposited the money from these investments into her personal account. None of their funds were actually invested, it says.
OBSI concluded the investors believed Sentinel had approved the investments, and that the firm should be responsible for the financial harm they suffered. OBSI recommended that one receive $245,462 in restitution and that the other investor get $20,249. However, it reports that the firm disagreed and refused its recommendations.
The second case also involves an off-book investment sold by an advisor at yourCFO Advisory Group. In that case, OBSI recommended that an investor receive $139,000 in compensation. Again, OBSI says that the firm disagreed and refused its recommendation.
Finally, OBSI also recommended that GP Wealth Management Corp. compensate a couple for $25,455 in deferred sales charges (DSCs) that they incurred when they redeemed some mutual funds. OBSI reports the couple believed that they would pay approximately $20,000 in DSCs, but that the total was actually $45,455.
OBSI recommended that the firm make up the difference between what the investors believed they would have to pay and what they actually paid. However, it again reports that the firm disagreed and refused its recommendation.
Notwithstanding the series of refusals announced today, OBSI points out that it has fulfilled its commitment to eliminate its backlog of investment files by May 1, 2015 in addition to not raising its fees in order to make this happen. Instead of hiking fees, the organization adopted a number of changes to its processes designed to speed up resolutions and worked within its existing budget to achieve that goal. As a result, it reports that all of the investment complaints it receives are now assigned to an investigator almost immediately and that more than 80% of these cases are now resolved within 180 days.