Beginning in 1747 as the Union Bank of Switzerland, UBS is a global financial entity providing financial services to private, corporate and institutional clients. Headquartered in Switzerland, UBS is a member of the New York and other major stock and commodities exchanges throughout the world.
In 2000, PaineWebber Group Inc., an American stock brokerage firm, merged with UBS. At the time, PaineWebber was the fourth largest private client firm in the U.S. with 385 offices and over 8,000 brokers. The business was initially named UBS PaineWebber but was renamed in 2003 when all UBS business groups became simply "UBS." The acquisition made UBS the top wealth and asset management firm in the world until Bank of America took over that title in 2009. The UBS American headquarters are located in Stamford, CT, Weehawken, NJ, and New York City. UBS has offices in over 50 countries and employs more than 65,000 people.
A securities brokerage firm licensed by FINRA, UBS has a legal duty to supervise its brokers and its brokers' recommendations to clients to ensure compliance with and prevent violations of the rules of the security industry. When an individual broker is negligent or acts in an unlawful manner against the interests of the client and that client suffers damages as a result of such wrongdoing, the firm may be held liable for the investor's losses.
UBS Financial Services and brokers with UBS have come under scrutiny in the past for alleged and actual investment misconduct. In April 2011, FINRA fined the firm $2.5 million and ordered them to pay $8.25 in restitution due to omissions that misled investors in Lehman-Issued principal protection notes (PPNs). FINRA noted five violations by UBS that included failure to adequately emphasize credit risk, failing to provide an adequate supervisory system and creating advertisements that misled customers about PPNs.
In September 2011, a California UBS financial advisor was sentenced to more than five years in prison after stealing $5.4 million from his clients. The UBS broker, Steven Kobayashi, pled guilty to money laundering and wire fraud after admitting that he had transferred his USB clients' investments into his own personal bank accounts over a period of three years.
When brokers and brokerage firms act in their own interests rather than the best interests of their investors, it is the investors who usually suffer. Clients who suffered significant losses (typically more than $75,000) due to UBS misconduct or misconduct from another brokerage firm can take legal action by contacting a stockbroker fraud attorney from Meyer Wilson. Our law firm will hold brokerage firms and financial advisors accountable for their misconduct and fight to help investors recover their losses.
Have you or someone you know lost money because of UBS Financial Services misconduct? Meyer Wilson may be able to help you. Our law firm has extensive experience in this area of law and we have the expertise and financial resources necessary to file investor claims. We bring cases against securities brokerage firms such as UBS. Our firm represents clients with investor claims in federal and state courts, and in arbitration through The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and private arbitration. To determine whether you have a case against UBS for your losses, call us toll-free or complete our online contact form to request a free case evaluation.
