A.G. Edwards Class Action Settlement

By Sarah Pierce

A class action settlement against A.G. Edwards will put $20 to $25 in the pockets of over 1.6 million current and former customers. If you maintained a brokerage account that held shares of mutual funds at A.G. Edwards between April 12, 2000 and April 12, 2005, you can expect your money from this settlement soon.

The class action settlement resolves a 2005 lawsuit accusing A.G. Edwards of inappropriately receiving millions of dollars in kickbacks from mutual fund companies whose mutual shares were held by class members. As a result, the lawsuit claims A.G. Edwards gave bad investment advice to customers, such as telling them to hold on to stocks from companies that were compensating A.G. Edwards when customers were better off selling them. It took five years of litigation before A.G. Edwards agreed to pay $60 million to settle the class action lawsuit, which was given final approval in May.

It’s estimated that 1,379,105 current accounts and 293,820 former accounts are eligible to receive benefits from this class action settlement. Former account holders will receive a measly $20.42 in cash for each former account they held, but current account holders get even more screwed: They’ll receive three credit vouchers worth $8.22 each (a total of $24.65) that can be used once a year over the next three years to pay for broker fees on future stock purchases. This, of course, has many A.G. Edwards customers furious, some of which complain they lost their life savings thanks to A.G. Edwards. Unfortunately, if you agree, the deadline to object to this class action settlement has passed.

Class action settlement notices were mailed to all eligible class members, but if you didn’t receive a notice and believe you have an eligible A.G. Edwards account, you can request an account verification by filling out this form.