Investor Complaints and Questions

FY 2009 Annual Complaint Data

1.6 Percent Increase in Investor Contacts

During FY 2009 (ended September 30, 2009), the SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy received approximately 82,000 complaints, questions, and other contacts*—a 1.6 percent increase, compared with FY 2008. Overall, the total number of contacts received by OIEA since 2003 has risen 16.3 percent.

 * "Other contacts" includes repeat contacts, contacts with insufficient information to process, and contacts about issues outside the SEC’s jurisdiction.

Complaint Trends

The volume of complaints concerning problems with redemption, liquidation or closing of accounts ranked first among all complaint categories in FY 2009. Complaints concerning short sale issues came in second.  Complaints concerning theft of funds or securities were up 118 percent over FY 2008. Complaints related to bankruptcy and issuer reorganization, which did not rank among the top ten in FY 2008, were up 47 percent.

TEN MOST COMMON COMPLAINTS RECEIVED DURING FY 2009