Ed Jones Overlooked 300,000 Investors in $127.5M Settlement

Although in April, Edward Jones proposed settling investor lawsuits over hidden revenue-sharing agreements for $127.5 million, the firm is now trying to postpone approval of that settlement from July 20 to Oct. 1, the St. Louis Daily Record reports.

The reason, Edward Jones said, is that due to “computer programming errors,” it overlooked 300,000 investors, and that instead of sending out the payments to 5.7 million investors, six million need to be accounted for.

Edward Jones had proposed paying investors $127.5 million in vouchers to settle class-action lawsuits that it accepted revenue from mutual fund companies in exchange for recommending their funds. The firm said would pay current customers $72.5 million in credit vouchers and past customers $55 million in cash. That meant that current customers would be eligible for $18 in vouchers and former customers $16 in cash.

Edward Jones investors filed nine class-action lawsuits in federal and state courts two years ago after the firm paid $75 million in fines to Missouri, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the NASD.