Your Account. Your Money. But Were the Trades Really Yours?
You followed the rules. You opened your account properly. You trusted a registered broker with your capital.
And then, quietly, without your knowledge or your instruction, things started happening in your account that you never asked for.
If you’re reading this because something felt wrong with how your account was handled at Arham Wealth Management, you deserve to understand exactly what that means, what your rights are, and what you can do about it.
Priya’s Account Was Active But She Wasn’t the One Trading.
Priya (name changed) was a first-time investor from Surat. She had spent years building her savings before entering the stock market.
She chose Arham Wealth Management because of its local reputation, and the relationship manager felt genuinely knowledgeable.
From day one, Priya was clear about what she wanted: small investments, conservative strategies, no derivatives without her direct approval.
For the first few months, everything seemed fine. She checked her statements occasionally but not closely.
Then one evening, she opened her trading app for the first time in a few weeks.
The numbers didn’t make sense.
There were trades in her account she didn’t recognise. F&O positions. Commodity trades. Positions opened and closed within days, sometimes within hours, that she had never discussed with anyone, never approved, never even heard about.
Her capital had shrunk significantly. She called her relationship manager immediately.
The response was calm, almost rehearsed:
“Ma’am, these were discussed with you. Market conditions were volatile. These were necessary.”
But she knew. She hadn’t discussed any of this. Not once.
She asked for trade records, call logs, and written communication showing her authorisation. What she got back were delays, half-answers, and eventually, silence.
What Account Handling Really Means And When It Goes Wrong?
Most investors open a trading account and never think deeply about what happens behind the scenes.
The broker places your orders. The money moves in and out. Statements arrive. You assume the system is working as it should.
But a question many investors only think to ask after something goes wrong is: is account handling legal the way my broker is doing it? The answer depends entirely on whether documented authorisation exists for every trade placed in your name.
But account handling covers far more than just placing trades.
It includes who has access to your account, who authorised each transaction, how your funds are moved, and whether a proper record exists proving that you, not someone else, initiated every action.
SEBI regulations are explicit on this. Before executing any trade on a client’s account, a broker must have documented prior authorisation.
Not a claim that you agreed. Not a verbal understanding. Actual evidence, written or recorded, that proves the instruction came from you.
When that documentation doesn’t exist, or when someone other than you has been operating your account, that is not a paperwork oversight.
That is a regulatory violation you have every right to challenge.
The Signs That Your Account May Have Been Mishandled
Not every investor will notice the problem immediately. The signs can be subtle at first, easy to explain away, easy to dismiss as market volatility or your own forgetfulness.
But some things should never be explained away:
- You see trades in segments you never asked to trade: derivatives, commodities, currencies, when you specifically chose to stay in equities.
- Your account shows a pattern of high-frequency trading that doesn’t match any instructions you gave. Positions opened and closed rapidly. Volume that makes no sense for the way you said you wanted to invest.
- When you ask for records proving your authorisation, the response is evasive. You get verbal assurances instead of documents. You get blame shifted onto market conditions instead of answers to your actual question.
- Your relationship manager changed suddenly, and with that change, so did the trading activity in your account.
- Someone told you that you had “given permission” through a form you signed during account opening. But no form gives a broker the right to trade freely in your account without ongoing, specific authorisation for each transaction.
Any one of these is worth investigating. If you’re seeing more than one, stop reading and start saving your documents right now.
Why Staying Silent Only Makes It Harder?
Here is the painful reality about cases involving account mishandling: time is not neutral. It actively works against you.
Evidence disappears. Call recordings are overwritten after a certain period. WhatsApp conversations get cleared. Account statements become harder to retrieve.
The longer you wait, the thinner your documentation becomes.
And brokers know this.
The investor who waits six months before raising a complaint faces a much harder road than the one who starts documenting within days of noticing something wrong.
Not because the violation was any less real, but because the evidence to prove it has quietly evaporated.
Priya waited three weeks after that first phone call before she started saving everything. She wishes she hadn’t waited at all.
How to File a Complaint Against Account Handling?
If something in your account doesn’t feel right, the time to move is today.
Here are the steps you can follow to report against a stock broker:
1. Secure your evidence first
Before you do anything else, save every document you have access to. Contract notes, account statements, fund transfer records, emails, WhatsApp messages, call recordings.
Screenshot everything you can see in your trading app or broker portal right now. Store copies in multiple places.
2. Send a written complaint to the broker
Not a phone call. Not a WhatsApp message. A formal, written complaint, by email or registered post, addressed to the broker’s compliance officer.
State clearly which trades you are disputing. Ask specifically for the pre-trade authorisation records they are legally required to maintain.
Put everything in writing, every time.
3. Raise a Complaint in SCORES
The SEBI SCORES portal is India’s official investor grievance platform. You can file your complaint there with all supporting documents.
Most investors never use it. That is why most investors never see a resolution.
4. Report in Smart ODR
SEBI’s Online Dispute Resolution platform facilitates structured mediation between investors and brokers.
It is structured, neutral, and moves significantly faster than most investors expect.
You do not need a lawyer to participate, and there is no cost to the investor at the conciliation stage.
5. Arbitration in Stock Market
Filing through the exchange gives you a legal, binding forum for resolution.
It is the path that has delivered outcomes for investors in similar situations, investors whose brokers couldn’t produce the pre-trade authorisation records they were supposed to hold.
Need Help?
We have helped investors in nearly identical situations, people who discovered unauthorised trades too late, who didn’t know which documents to save, who sent complaints that went nowhere because the right violations weren’t named clearly enough.
We help you build a case. Not a vague complaint, but a documented, regulation-citing, evidence-backed case that demands a response.
We work with investors dealing with brokers, Research Analysts, and Investment Advisors.
If your account was traded without your authorisation, if your funds moved in ways you didn’t approve, if your broker is refusing to produce pre-trade records, reach out to us.
Tell us what happened. We will come back to you within 24 business hours with an honest assessment of where your case stands and what recovery realistically looks like from here.
Your Account Was Never Theirs to Use
Priya did everything right. She followed the process, trusted a regulated participant, and asked questions the moment something felt wrong.
The losses she suffered should never have been hers to bear.
However, despite taking these precautions, she suffered losses that she believed should never have fallen on her shoulders.
That is not acceptable. And it is not the end of her story.
SEBI regulations exist precisely for situations like this. The documentation requirements, the authorisation standards, the complaint mechanisms, they are there because your account belongs to you, and every trade in it requires your permission.
If that standard was violated, you have a right to say so. Loudly, formally, and with the full weight of the regulatory framework behind you.
You don’t have to accept what happened as final.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. My broker says I gave verbal consent for the trades. Is that enough under SEBI rules?
No. SEBI regulations require documented prior authorisation before a trade is executed on a client’s account. A verbal claim made after the fact does not meet this standard.
If your broker cannot produce written or recorded evidence that you approved a trade before it was placed, that is a violation you can formally challenge.
2. I signed several forms when I opened my account. Could those forms have given the broker permission to trade freely?
Account opening forms, including Power of Attorney documents, have a defined and limited scope under SEBI guidelines. They do not give brokers blanket authority to trade your account however they choose.
Each trade still requires specific, ongoing client authorisation. If someone used those forms to justify trading your account without your knowledge, that is misuse of client documentation.
3. The trades happened months ago. Is it too late to do anything?
Acting sooner is always better; evidence becomes harder to retrieve over time. However, it is not automatically too late.
The strength of your case depends on what documentation you can still access: contract notes, account statements, bank records, and any communication with the broker.
If you still have these, a formal complaint remains possible. Start the process now rather than waiting longer.
4. What if my relationship manager left the firm and I can no longer reach them?
The relationship manager’s departure does not end the broker’s accountability. The obligation to maintain pre-trade authorisation records lies with the brokerage firm, not with any individual employee.
You file your complaint against the firm and request records from the firm’s compliance team.
The broker cannot use staff turnover as a reason to avoid producing documentation.
