Trade Delays Lead To Compensation

Three of Wall Street’s biggest brokerage firms will compensate small investors for money they lost on delayed trades during Tuesday’s record trading session.

Merrill Lynch & Co., the biggest U.S. securities firm in terms of brokers, plans to pay as much as $10 million to about 3,000 individual clients who traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Smith Barney Inc., a unit of Travelers Group Inc. and the second-largest broker, will repay clients for losses caused by glitches in its trading systems.

Prudential Securities Inc., a unit of Prudential Insurance Co., and the fifth-biggest broker, will pay about $200,000 to clients for as many as 800 trades.

The payments stem from trading delays during the stock market’s rebound from Monday’s 7 percent tumble.