Robinhood to pay up to $10.2 million for technical failures

“The settlement covers Robinhood’s review and approval process for options and margin accounts, weaknesses in the firm’s monitoring and reporting tools, and inadequate customer service and escalation protocols,” the North American Securities Administrators Association said in a news release Thursday.

“Robinhood has repeatedly failed to serve its customers, but this settlement makes clear that Robinhood must take its customer care obligations seriously and rectify these shortcomings,” Andrew Hartnett, president of the association, said in the release. “

The settlement stems from an investigation by state securities regulators in Alabama, Colorado, California, Delaware, New Jersey, South Dakota and Texas.

“We are working to resolve this matter with the states and are happy to put this behind us,” Lucas Moskovitz, Robinhood’s deputy general counsel and head of government affairs, said in a statement. Improvements include the launch of 24/7 chat and phone support, expanding our library of educational content, and strengthening the way we oversee our technology.”