Samsung Securities decided to provide some consolation payments even after receiving a judgment from financial authorities that it bore no compensation responsibility for the suspension of U.S. stock trading services that occurred last year. Among the 19 domestic securities firms involved in the service interruption at that time, Samsung Securities is the only one that offered consolation payments.
However, since the Financial Supervisory Service concluded that there was no responsibility for domestic securities firms regarding the incident, it is known that the compensation is not direct damages but rather a few tens of thousands of won worth gift certificates given as consolation.
According to the financial investment industry on the 1st, Samsung Securities is individually contacting customers who experienced order delays, even during regular trading, following the recent suspension of weekly U.S. stock trading services to discuss consolation payments.
An official from Samsung Securities noted that this is a kind of goodwill gesture for customers who experienced inconvenience due to difficulties in placing orders even during regular trading, separate from compensation for the cancellation of weekly trading. He explained that it is difficult to apply consolation payments uniformly, so they are reviewing individual cases and contacting customers.
The suspension of weekly U.S. stock trading occurred on Aug. 5 last year, known as 'Black Monday' (a major stock market crash), when global stock markets plummeted. Nineteen domestic securities firms facilitated weekly trading for domestic investors through Blue Ocean Technologies (Blue Ocean), an alternative trading system in the U.S. However, as order volumes skyrocketed, Blue Ocean unilaterally notified of the trading halt, leading to the cancellation of transaction requests worth 630 billion won received through about 90,000 domestic accounts.
Investors applied for dispute resolution to the FSS, claiming that domestic securities firms should compensate for investment damages; however, the FSS recently concluded that domestic securities firms bore no responsibility. The cause of the incident was determined not to be intentional or negligent conduct by domestic securities firms but rather the trading halt by Blue Ocean without prior consultation.
However, the FSS's policy is to encourage self-adjustment by securities firms only for customers who clearly suffered damage due to the delayed resumption.
Some securities firms, including Samsung Securities, faced issues with proper transactions during regular trading due to delays in canceling the weekly transactions at that time. This consolation payment is intended for investors who experienced such problems. However, the exact amount of the consolation payment has not been disclosed. It is reported that investors were offered gift certificates worth tens of thousands of won.
With Samsung Securities taking the initiative in providing consolation payments, other securities firms are expected to show similar movements. This type of consolation payment is likely to serve as a self-help measure for securities firms to retain existing customers amid the continuous increase in the scale of domestic investors' U.S. stock transactions.
An industry official added that the proactive move to provide consolation payments, even if small, is a response to maintain brand image and may also be in consideration of potential class actions that could be pursued later. He noted that, with such precedents established, other securities firms can no longer remain inactive.
This is not the first time that securities firms have provided consolation payments to investors in the form of gift certificates. In April this year, Kaium Securities also provided gift certificates to investors whose damage amounts were small due to a computer error.