I received two very similar telephone calls this week from baby boomers who were worried that their elderly parents may have been the victim of stockbroker fraud by major Wall Street brokerage firms. Both of them had just learned of the issue.
Ordinarily, we would analyze the brokerage statements and the facts and decide whether the seniors had viable claims. However, there was a problem. The potential stockbroker fraud activity occurred as early as 1999. The children did not know about the issues because the elderly parents never shared their financial information with their grown children.
Huge mistake. There are various statutes of limitations or eligibility rules which can bar investors from bringing claims against brokerage firms. In these two matters, the seniors may have had potential claims but we decided not to take either case because the facts took place many, many years ago.