NETTRADINGSERVICESFIRMFOUNDLIABLEFORACUSTOMER’SLOSS
MarcelNaud*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,Lawyers,
ROBIC,Patent&TrademarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
1001Square-Victoria-BlocE–8
thFloor
Montreal,Quebec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.:(514)9876242-Fax:(514)8457874
info@robic.com–www.robic.ca
CASEREPORT
CANADA
WeiZhuv.MerrillLynchHSBC,2002BCPC0535
Facts
TheClaimantisasoftwareengineerwhoisknowledgeableinthefieldof
investment,withaportfolioof$250,000.00CAD.TheClaimantallegedthathe
usedtheDefendant’sNetTrader,anInternettradingplatformallowingon-line
tradingofstock,tosell4000XYBRsharesat2:47p.m.onMay23,2001andthat
hecancelledthattradeorderimmediatelythereafter.TheClaimantalleged
thathereceivedconfirmationthatbythetimehecancelledhistradeorder,
200ofthe4000shareshadalreadybeensold,andthatthesaleofthe
remaining3800shareshadbeencancelled.TheClaimantallegedthathe
waitedfiveminutesandthenplacedasecondtradeordertosellthe
remaining3800shares.
However,inreality,thecancellationorderhadnotbeencompleted,which
resultedinaduplicatesellorderofthesameshares.TheDefendantrequested
thattheClaimantbuyback3800sharestomakeuphis”short”position.By
then,thepriceforthoseshareswere$5.26USD,upfromtheinitial$3.70USD
price.TheClaimantisseekingcompensationfromtheDefendantforhislossof
$9,768.12CADresultingfromtheduplicatesellorderandrelatedbuy-back.
TheevidenceshowedthatwhentheClaimantmadehiscancellationorder,a
messagecontainingthefollowingstatementsappearedonhiscomputer