16.01.201705:36:00UTC+00Morgan Stanley fined $17 million over billing system errors

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission hit U.S. bank Morgan Stanley with $17 million penalty to settle civil charges after it overbilled some of its wealth management clients because of coding and other billing system errors.

The bank agreed on paying the charges, saying it was pleased to have the matter settled.

Bank spokeswoman Christine Jockle said, “All affected clients have been reimbursed and the firm has enhanced its policies and procedures, including discontinuing the use of certain legacy systems.”

More than 149,000 clients were affected by the billing errors, the commission said. Between 2002 and 2016, the bank received more than US$16 million in excess fees.