my account statement is wrong ,how can i do?
- Thread starter luofeiyu
- Start date
I see that you had assignments. You do realize that these normally correspond to a loss of the amount your short option is in the money, at least on that leg?
Other than that, statements are always in balance because they use double entry bookkeeping.
So the statement is never obviously wrong on its face. The values always add up superficially at least.
It can be wrong, but only when it omits a transaction or has the details of a transaction wrong. You need to find which individual transactions are wrong.
I have a feeling that you may not be exactly understanding the points made here because of the language issue.
ETrade has a Hong Kong office.
ETRADE Securities(Hong Kong) Ltd
Office 802, LHT Tower,
31 Queen's Road Central,
Hong Kong
Contact us at enquiry-hk@etrade.com
or call +852 3191 3311
If that is close enough to you, I suggest making an appointment and going in and talking to them in person.
You can complain to the Hong Kong regulator if you want but you would be far better off to first try to sort it out with ETrade.
Other than that, statements are always in balance because they use double entry bookkeeping.
So the statement is never obviously wrong on its face. The values always add up superficially at least.
It can be wrong, but only when it omits a transaction or has the details of a transaction wrong. You need to find which individual transactions are wrong.
I have a feeling that you may not be exactly understanding the points made here because of the language issue.
ETrade has a Hong Kong office.
ETRADE Securities(Hong Kong) Ltd
Office 802, LHT Tower,
31 Queen's Road Central,
Hong Kong
Contact us at enquiry-hk@etrade.com
or call +852 3191 3311
If that is close enough to you, I suggest making an appointment and going in and talking to them in person.
You can complain to the Hong Kong regulator if you want but you would be far better off to first try to sort it out with ETrade.
i have called etrade hongkong branch ,it said that we can provide account opening service only ,the statement on any transaction is not our duty ,you must make a contact with etrade usa .And etrade usa just say there is no error in my balance,it don't explain away in detain why my statement in 2013 oct is that in the statement.
i have a doubt on my statement in 2013 oct . To save my money, i ask for etrade to call me ,they don't ,every time i call it , i have to wait long time ,maybe many call come in ,the problem is still there , but i have spent about 1000 renminbi for the international call.
i enter into my account to send security message to ask them to send me email to explain away the statement in 2013 oct , etrade deliberately keep silence . do i have the right to understand my statement in etrade ?do etrade has the duty to explain away how to keep the transaction for me ?
i have a doubt on my statement in 2013 oct . To save my money, i ask for etrade to call me ,they don't ,every time i call it , i have to wait long time ,maybe many call come in ,the problem is still there , but i have spent about 1000 renminbi for the international call.
i enter into my account to send security message to ask them to send me email to explain away the statement in 2013 oct , etrade deliberately keep silence . do i have the right to understand my statement in etrade ?do etrade has the duty to explain away how to keep the transaction for me ?
It is a pity you are not able to identify where the mistake is.
You should try and identify any of the following;
1) which day or days there were errors.
2) which transactions are missing or incorrect
3) any transactions that do not belong in your account which are there.
Also, as noted if there is broker action following assignment, you need to factor it in.
If you cannot do any of the above and just keep saying the balance is wrong, I'm sorry to say no organisation is going to do a full audit of your account just for that. It is your responsibility to check balances every time you receive an electronic notification and to notify the broker within a set period as stated in your agreement.
Just saying the balance is wrong is not going to work, that is the reality.
I do not mean to be unkind, I understand there is a language issue, but numbers are numbers in any language. If you are not able to do a simple account reconciliation, you should not be conducting any financial transactions.
I have a question for you (the original poster).
Are you familiar with how options are accounted for, including such concepts as realized and unrealized gain, intrinsic value, market value, book value, time value, premium, assignment, exercise, in-the-money, debit and credit, etc.?
If not, you simply cannot deal with this issue until you learn these concepts thoroughly. You just do not have the vocabulary to interpret the statements. I would suggest taking a course.
In fact, you really are not ready to trade until you can interpret broker statements in exact detail. match the lines to the trades you make, and identify any errors.
I think you are saying that the statement looks wrong but that you do not understand it well enough to say exactly where it is wrong. Well, you will have to learn to understand it in detail. If you have a knowledgeable friend , he or she should be able to help.
I think that is the next step for you.
You simply cannot reduce options accounting to a simpler approach. You have to deal with it the vocabulary used on your statements.
All of that said, the response of the broker does sound inadequate to me. If they are going to solicit business in Hong Kong and China, they should be prepared to deal with you in your native language and help interpret their statements. If they will not, the only thing you can do may be to switch to a broker who offers better local support.
I did look through the October statement. Unfortunately I was not able to narrow down where your issue may lie. If you can narrow it down further, we may be able to look at that area more closely. I do not really like the format they use much myself. You might be better off with Interactive Brokers, who at least has comprehensive statements, and has representatives here in EliteTrader. Some people say that their support is lacking also in some ways also, but at least they have a Hong Kong office with real support.
Are you familiar with how options are accounted for, including such concepts as realized and unrealized gain, intrinsic value, market value, book value, time value, premium, assignment, exercise, in-the-money, debit and credit, etc.?
If not, you simply cannot deal with this issue until you learn these concepts thoroughly. You just do not have the vocabulary to interpret the statements. I would suggest taking a course.
In fact, you really are not ready to trade until you can interpret broker statements in exact detail. match the lines to the trades you make, and identify any errors.
I think you are saying that the statement looks wrong but that you do not understand it well enough to say exactly where it is wrong. Well, you will have to learn to understand it in detail. If you have a knowledgeable friend , he or she should be able to help.
I think that is the next step for you.
You simply cannot reduce options accounting to a simpler approach. You have to deal with it the vocabulary used on your statements.
All of that said, the response of the broker does sound inadequate to me. If they are going to solicit business in Hong Kong and China, they should be prepared to deal with you in your native language and help interpret their statements. If they will not, the only thing you can do may be to switch to a broker who offers better local support.
I did look through the October statement. Unfortunately I was not able to narrow down where your issue may lie. If you can narrow it down further, we may be able to look at that area more closely. I do not really like the format they use much myself. You might be better off with Interactive Brokers, who at least has comprehensive statements, and has representatives here in EliteTrader. Some people say that their support is lacking also in some ways also, but at least they have a Hong Kong office with real support.
I agree with Comintel that it is necessary to have a broker you can understand. It is quite possible e-trade made a mistake. Years ago they bought the broker we used and immediately there was a very big and obvious mistake in our statement. It took over 35 minutes to get customer service (we were used to our broker answering within a few rings). They did correct the problem but we lost confidence and switched brokers. My son uses them and is quite satisfied.
As Comintel also said the accounting of options is a bit different, you were assigned and if you didn't have money to cover the short and didn't close the long in time you can lose more than the spread so its also possible they are correct. I hope you do get the problem corrected, in any event you do need to find a broker you can talk to and not have to go to this website for help. Good luck.
As Comintel also said the accounting of options is a bit different, you were assigned and if you didn't have money to cover the short and didn't close the long in time you can lose more than the spread so its also possible they are correct. I hope you do get the problem corrected, in any event you do need to find a broker you can talk to and not have to go to this website for help. Good luck.
If he really believes they have made a mistake he can file written complaints with:
(1) ETrade Compliance Dept in writing (then wait for a response before going further)
(2)
http://www.finra.org/investors/protectyourself/p118639
(3)
http://www.sfc.hk/web/EN/published-resources/corporate-publications/complaint-leaflet.html
However I think it would be far more productive and likely to succeed to spend the time breaking down the broker statements to pin down exactly where any error lies.
It may reflect negatively on him and make it harder to open other accounts if he complains but then cannot substantiate the complaint.
(1) ETrade Compliance Dept in writing (then wait for a response before going further)
(2)
http://www.finra.org/investors/protectyourself/p118639
(3)
http://www.sfc.hk/web/EN/published-resources/corporate-publications/complaint-leaflet.html
However I think it would be far more productive and likely to succeed to spend the time breaking down the broker statements to pin down exactly where any error lies.
It may reflect negatively on him and make it harder to open other accounts if he complains but then cannot substantiate the complaint.
OP, in my experience Etrade is not an appropriate broker for overseas traders. I once opened an account through Etrade HK office and although they never appeared dishonnest it has been nightmarish. You probably should clear up this accounting issue, especially that in case it comes from you you will feel cheated again later, but interactivebrokers is much better.
From memory with Etrade, I first got blocked out of my account because after logging in from a different country the system asked me my US security number as a security question ( I never set a foot in the US so obviously couldn't reply) than got hit with backup witholdingtax ( 28% of the gross value of a trade) and the guy on the phone wouldn't notice it at first. Both times serious headache followed to clear the situation, and the window "Warning, you're account is subject to backup witholding tax" only appeared AFTER the issue had been cleared, scaring me again
Also several of the products Etrade offered were only available to US traders
From memory with Etrade, I first got blocked out of my account because after logging in from a different country the system asked me my US security number as a security question ( I never set a foot in the US so obviously couldn't reply) than got hit with backup witholdingtax ( 28% of the gross value of a trade) and the guy on the phone wouldn't notice it at first. Both times serious headache followed to clear the situation, and the window "Warning, you're account is subject to backup witholding tax" only appeared AFTER the issue had been cleared, scaring me again
Also several of the products Etrade offered were only available to US traders