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Biggest FINRA Penalties In 2015

The biggest penalties FINRA levied last came from a wide variety of violations: Puerto Rico The Puerto Rico bond crisis was the source of a couple substantial FINRA actions. The regulator fined UBS Financial Services Inc. of Puerto Rico $7.5 million and ordered restitution of $11 million to 165 customers who had bought Puerto Rican closed-end fund shares. In a similar action, the regulator made Santander Securities pay $4.3 million in restitution and levied a $2 million fine. Mutual Fund Charges Overcharging for mutual funds was at the center of numerous big FINRA cases. The regulator ordered Wells Fargo Advisors to pay $15 million in restitution to customers because it failed to waive mutual fund sales charges for charitable and retirement accounts. In similar actions, Edward D. Jones & Co. paid $13.5 million in restitution, while Raymond James Financial Services Inc., LPL Financial, Stifel Nicolaus & Company Inc. and Janney Montgomery Scott paid $8.7 million, $6.3 million, $2.9 million and $1.2 million, [...]

By |January 11th, 2016|FINRA, Press Releases & News|
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FINRA Fines UBS Puerto Rico $18.5M

FINRA censured and fined UBS Financial Services Incorporated of Puerto Rico $7.5 million for supervisory failures pertaining to the suitability of transactions in Puerto Rican closed-end funds ("CEF") shares. Further, the regulatory agency ordered UBS to pay about $11 million in restitution to 165 customers who were forced to realize losses on their CEF positions. FINRA discovered that for over four years, UBS PR failed to monitor the combination of leverage and concentration levels in customer accounts to ensure that the transactions were suitable given the customers' risk objectives and profiles. UBS failed to implement a reasonably designed system to identify and prevent unsuitable transactions in light of the unique Puerto Rican economy, in which retail customers typically maintained high levels of concentration in Puerto Rican assets and often used those highly concentrated accounts as collateral for cash loans. Despite UBS PR's knowledge of these common practices, it failed to adequately monitor concentration and leverage levels to identify whether certain customers' CEF [...]

By |October 1st, 2015|FINRA, Press Releases & News|
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UBS Settles Hedge Fund Suit

UBS AG avoided going to trial today by mere hours by agreeing to settle a lawsuit in which it was alleged to have peddled "crap" and "vomit" securities during the financial crisis of 2007. Connecticut hedge fund Pursuit Partners claimed that UBS sold it asset-backed securities and failed to disclose that they were about to be downgraded. Lawyers for UBS and the hedge fund announced in court yesterday that they came to terms and have resolved the suit. The Stamford-based hedge fund brought suit against UBS in 2008, alleging that it sold the fund $40.5 million of collateralized debt obligations between July and October 2007 and knew the securities were on the precipice of downfall. "UBS knew, at least as early as July 2007, based upon private communications by and between UBS and Moody's, that Moody's no longer believed that CDO notes of the type that UBS later sold to Pursuit deserved an 'investment-grade' rating," the suit alleged. To further [...]

By |September 2nd, 2015|Press Releases & News|
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UBS Loses Arbitration, Forced To Pay $200k

UBS lost an arbitration case this week pertaining to the offer and sale of a number of Puerto Rico Fixed Income and Bond funds. The Claimant in the arbitration asserted causes of action for violation of the Puerto Rico Uniform Securities Act, securities fraud, constructive fraud, breach of contract, negligence, negligent supervision, failure to supervise, breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation, omission of facts, manipulation, unsuitability, common law fraud, constructive fraud, and respondeat superior. The Claimant's allegations related to the her purchase of shares of Puerto Rico Fixed Income Funds I, II, and III and Puerto Rico Investors Bond Fund. In her statement of claim, the Claimant requested rescission of the closed end funds sold to her and $357,000 to $625,000 in compensatory damages, as well as interest, costs, attorneys' fees, and punitive damages. In her pre-hearing brief, the Claimant requested compensatory damages between $339,297 and $702,003. UBS requested dismissal of the claims and expungement of the action. After considering the [...]

By |May 14th, 2015|Press Releases & News|
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