Usually, there are no documents establishing the alleged misrepresentation, so the parties are forced to recollect conversations. The customer swears a lie was told, and the broker swears it was not. As the burden of proving a claim is on the claimant, a swearing contest favors the defendant. If the customer and the broker are equally credible, the customer will never win the award. Still, a swearing contest can be a dangerous defense.
More evidence is needed to convince an arbitrator to rule in the broker's favor.
This evidence can sometimes come in the form of documents. As stated earlier, documents can't prove there was no misrepresentation, but they can show that the customer had access to the correct facts. For the customer to win, he must not only prove that there was a misrepresentation, but also that there was a reasonable reliance upon incorrect information. If the truth was available to the customer, his reliance would be unreasonable and his claim should be denied. A wealth of financial information is available online, and printed materials, such as annual reports, provide a detailed explanation of the financial status of public companies.