A leading stockbroking firm mismanaged an elderly widow's €1.5 million investments, the Financial Ombudsman revealed today.
The company was found guilty of negligence and breach of duty and ordered to pay the client, in her 70s, some €18,500 compensation.
She complained to the ombudsman, Joe Meade, that she wasn't told how a particular bond worked and was encouraged to take high risk shares against her wishes.
The pensioner was led to believe she was getting a tax-free income when in fact she was being paid back her own money, while the investment devalued.
She was also wrongly told that she would face penalties if she tried to get out of the investment before a decade had passed.
The company was told to change its procedures immediately so as to make clearer charges imposed on investments.
The decision was among several upheld complaints against financial institutions made public today by the Financial Services Ombudsman.
In other rulings a bank was ordered to pay €4,500 to a customer after sending his overdraft balance to the wrong address where it was opened by someone else.
A bank who confused a customer with his twin brother and mistakenly attributed a poor credit rating to the client, after his brother defaulted on a loan, was
ordered to award €2,000 in compensation.
The ombudsman did not uphold a complaint from a customer forced to pay a €900,000 tax settlement for cash held in eight bogus non-resident accounts.
The woman claimed she was advised "not to bother" about the tax amnesty by her bank.
The ombudsman ruled the scenario was unlikely and in any event the bank had no duty of care to advise the customer against an illegal option.
Some 1,600 complaints - 960 regarding insurance and 665 credit institutions - were received by the Ombudsman this year to June.