Brokerages Face Technical Meltdown Amid Market Turmoil

Posted on August 21st, 2024 at 11:42 AM
Brokerages Face Technical Meltdown Amid Market Turmoil

From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law

InvestmentNews recently reported that a severe technical glitch disrupted several major online brokerages as investors scrambled to trade amidst a sharp market downturn. Charles Schwab and Fidelity both experienced login issues, coinciding with a significant drop in Wall Street indexes. This market plunge was triggered by weak economic data, disappointing earnings from major tech companies, and escalating geopolitical tensions.

Jason Britton, president and chief investment officer at Reflection Asset Management, told InvestmentNews that the heightened panic caused by the platform outages alarmed investors, who were troubled by their inability to monitor their portfolios during the downturn.

Downdetector.com reported that nearly 14,500 Schwab users and over 3,600 Fidelity users faced issues. Schwab and Fidelity both acknowledged and resolved the technical problems, apologizing for the inconvenience via their X accounts.

Other platforms, including Robinhood and Vanguard, also reported disruptions but indicated that they had resolved the issues by the afternoon. Interactive Brokers, however, reported no system-wide outages.

The SEC is monitoring the situation closely, ensuring market operations remain orderly amidst the ongoing volatility. This incident marks the second major brokerage outage in recent weeks, following similar disruptions during the CrowdStrike outage in July.

 

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, sec

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