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FINRA Arbitration Still an Option for Investors
A New York federal judge has refused to certify as a class action a 2015 Puerto Rico UBS bond fund lawsuit that was filed against UBS and its affiliates. The lawsuit, which sought to represent everyone who bought UBS Puerto Rico bond funds between May 5, 2008, and May 5, 2014, alleged that UBS recommended and sold its risky Puerto Rico bond funds to Puerto Rico residents without conducting the required suitability analyses. Incidentally, when Puerto Rico’s financial troubles worsened in 2013 and 2014, UBS’s Puerto Rico bond funds lost billions of dollars, or more than half their value.
The judge said that a suitability analysis is unique for each investor, requiring a review of each individual’s investment goals and investor profile. More specifically, the judge said, “A suitability determination is inherently individualized because each investor had unique circumstances and objectives including risk tolerance, cash flow, and income needs, debts, net worth, total assets, tax needs, investment time horizon, asset allocation, health, and investment experience.” The court also reasoned that whether UBS performed a proper suitability analysis would have to be determined on an individual basis. For these reasons, the court refused to certify the lawsuit as a class action.
FINRA Arbitration Remains an Option
While more than 1,000 UBS Puerto Rico bond fund investors filed individual FINRA arbitration claims to recover their investment losses, many more investors have not taken any action. Presumably many investors believed that the class action lawsuit would address their investment losses. But now that the court has rejected the class action, a FINRA arbitration claim appears to the be only recourse that Puerto Rico investors have left if the hope to recover their investment losses.
UBS Puerto Rico Bonds Fund Portrayed as Safe
Investors have claimed the UBS Puerto Rico bond funds were falsely portrayed as safe fixed-income securities. In reality, the bond funds had an enormous percentage of their assets in risky Puerto Rico bonds. Moreover, the funds used leverage (borrowed money) to buy many of the bonds held within the funds. The use of leverage dramatically increased the risk of loss to the bond fund investors.
Have You Lost Money In UBS Puerto Rico Bond Funds?
If you lost money in UBS Puerto Rico bond funds, contact an experienced investment fraud attorney today.
Speak with an Investment Fraud Attorney Today
Our AV-rated* lawyers have been representing Puerto Rico residents for many years. We have extensive experience representing UBS customers who have lost money in UBS Puerto Rico bonds funds and we have recovered millions of dollars from UBS for our clients. We will aggressively pursue claims to recover your investment losses.
If you are looking for an investment fraud attorney to review your rights and options, the investment fraud lawyers at Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. represent individual and institutional investors who have lost money as a result of investment fraud or stockbroker misconduct.
Contact Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein
Contact an investment fraud attorney at Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. to schedule an appointment for a FREE case evaluation. Importantly, we have Spanish-speaking lawyers and staff.
Our offices are located in Los Angeles, New York, Detroit, West Palm Beach and Miami, and we regularly travel wherever necessary to meet with our clients. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][cq_vc_notify width="320" height="" textcolor="#ffffff" background="#1f283a" right="30" bottom="30" days="" cookie="on"]
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