UPDATE 9/30/16: UBS has paid more than $15 million to settle SEC charges that it improperly sold risky, complex products to investors, the agency announced on Wednesday. The case involves the sale of approximately $548 million in reverse convertible notes to 8,743 retail customers between 2011 and 2014. The SEC alleged that the investors did not understand the volatility and risk associated with the notes and neither did the representatives who sold them. UBS will pay $8.2 million in disgorgement, a $6 million penalty, and $798,316 in interest.
Galvin Legal, PLLC is launching an investigation on behalf of investors who may have suffered losses investing with UBS Financial Services. If you suffered losses investing with UBS Financial Services, then Galvin Legal, PLLC may be able to help you recover your losses in a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA“) arbitration claim.
UBS Financial Services (CRD# 8174) (SEC# 801-7163, 8-16267)
As of April 4, 2020, UBS Financial Services’s FINRA BrokerCheck Report contains the following:
457 Regulatory Event Disclosures
5 Civil Event Disclosures
409 Arbitration Disclosures
UPDATE 7-21-2020: According to a July 20, 2020 press release, the SEC has announced that UBS Financial Services has agreed to pay more than $10 million to resolve charges that it circumvented the priority given to retain investors in certain municipal bond offerings. According to the SEC’s order, over a four-year period, UBS Financial Services improperly allocated bonds intended for retail customers to parties known in the industry as “flippers,” who then immediately resold or “flipped” the bonds to other broker-dealers at a profit. The order finds that UBS Financial Services registered representatives knew or should have known that flippers were not eligible for retail priority. In addition, the order finds that UBS Financial Services registered representatives facilitated over 2,000 trades with flippers, which allowed UBS Financial Services to obtain bonds for its own inventory, thereby circumventing the priority of orders set by the issuers and improperly obtaining a higher priority in the bond allocation process. “Retail order periods are intended to prioritize retail investors’ access to municipal bonds and we will continue to pursue violations that undermine this priority,” said LeeAnn G. Gaunt, Chief of the Division of Enforcement’s Public Finance Abuse Unit. The SEC previously brought charges of municipal bond offering “flipping” and retail order period abuses in August 2018, in December 2018, in September 2019, and in April 2020. Without admitting or denying the findings, UBS Financial Services consented to a cease-and-desist order that finds it violated the disclosure, fair dealing, and supervisory provisions of Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rules G-11(k), G-17, and G-27, and also failed reasonably to supervise within the meaning of Section 15(b)(4)(E) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The order imposes a $1.75 million penalty, $6.74 million in disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus over $1.5 million in prejudgment interest, and a censure. In related actions, the SEC instituted settled proceedings today against UBS Financial Services registered representatives William S. Costas and John J. Marvin. The SEC’s order finds that Costas and Marvin negligently submitted retail orders for municipal bonds on behalf of their flipper customers and that Costas also helped UBS Financial Services bond traders improperly obtain bonds for UBS Financial Services’s own inventory through his flipper customer. Costas and Marvin agreed to settle the charges without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, and consented to orders finding they violated MSRB Rules G-11(k) and G-17. Costas agreed to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest totaling $16,585 and a civil penalty of $25,000, and Marvin agreed to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest totaling $27,966 and a civil penalty of $25,000. Both consented to a 12-month limitation on trading negotiated new issue municipal securities. The SEC previously settled charges against Jerry E. Orellana, a former UBS Financial Services Executive Director, for submitting retail orders to the underwriting syndicate from certain UBS Financial Services customers who were flippers.
Main Office Location
1200 HARBOR BOULEVARD
WEEHAWKEN, NJ 07086
UNITED STATES
Mailing Address
315 DEADERICK STREET
3RD FL, COMPLIANCE DEPARTMENT
NASHVILLE, TN 37238
UNITED STATES
Business Telephone Number
201-352-3000
Direct Owners and Executive Officers
UBS AMERICAS INC., OWNER
CHANDLER, JASON RICHARD (CRD#:2382465), PRESIDENT
FRANCOMANO, LISA M. (CRD#:2263875), CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER FOR THE ADVISORY BUSINESS
HATCH, PAUL MARTIN (CRD#:1350155), DIRECTOR
HOLLOWELL, THOMAS DOUGLAS (CRD#:5146435), GENERAL COUNSEL
MATTONE, RALPH (CRD#:1840894), PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL OFFICER
MOLINARO, SAMUEL LEONARD (CRD#:2414084), DIRECTOR
NARATIL, THOMAS (CRD#:1192911), CHAIRMAN UBS FINANCIAL SERVICES INC
NEWCOMB, CATHERINE ANN (CRD#:4517197), MANAGING DIRECTOR
PRIMIANO, ANTHONY (CRD#:2090776), CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER
SANBORN, MARK WILSON (CRD#:1805781), MANAGING DIRECTOR
SOMMA, JOSEPH (CRD#:2219496), PRINCIPAL OPERATIONS OFFICER
FINRA requires brokerage firms to conduct due diligence on investments and to conduct a suitability analysis when recommending securities to a customer that takes into account the customer’s knowledge and experience. Brokerage firms that fail to conduct adequate due diligence or that make unsuitable recommendations can be held responsible for the customer’s losses in a FINRA arbitration claim.
If you suffered losses investing with UBS Financial Services and would like a free consultation with a securities attorney, then please call Galvin Legal, PLLC at 1-800-405-5117.
This information is all publicly available and is being provided to you by Galvin Legal, PLLC.
Galvin Legal, PLLC is a national securities arbitration, securities mediation, securities litigation, securities fraud, securities regulation and compliance, and investor protection law practice. For more information on Galvin Legal, PLLC and its representation of investors, please visit www.galvinlegal.com or call 1-800-405-5117.
Formerly Known As, Aliases, and Affiliates
PAINE, WEBBER, JACKSON & CURTIS INC., PAINEWEBBER INCORPORATED, UBS PAINEWEBBER INC., WEALTH MANAGEMENT USA, PAINE, WEBBER, JACKSON & CURTIS INC., PAINEWEBBER INCORPORATED, UBS PAINEWEBBER INC., WEALTH MANAGEMENT USA
