Pursuant to a recent arbitration ruling, UBS Group AG (UBS) must pay $1.45 million to Christel Marie Bengoa Lopez for losses she sustained in Puerto Rico closed-end bond funds. According to her arbitration claim, filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), Bengoa Lopez invested a $5 million gift from…
The Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corporation (COFINA) has submitted a plan to restructure the financially beleaguered island’s debt. COFINA, which is comprised of investors who possess debt backed by sales-tax revenues, has issued $17.3 billion in Puerto Rico debt-$7.5 billion in senior debt and $9.7 billion in second lien…
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has issued a report in which she claims that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice have been doing a poor job on enforcement when it comes to going after companies and individuals for corporate crimes. In Rigged Justice: How Weak…
The state of Virginia has arrived at a $63M settlement with 11 banks to resolve claims that they bilked the state’s retirement system by purportedly misrepresenting the quality of residential mortgage-backed securities in the run up to the 2008 financial crisis. The resolution settles all claims against the financial firms…
UBS AG (UBS) is reportedly closing down two of its exchange traded note (ETN) funds that were concentrated in master limited partnerships: · The $11M ETRACS 2x Monthly Leveraged S&P MLP Index ETN (MLPV), which was just issued last July · The $113M ETRACS 2x Monthly Leveraged Long Alerian MLP…
The U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico will pay about $330 million of what it owes on general obligation bonds, while defaulting on bonds of approximately $37 million that are mostly owed to the Puerto Rico Infrastructure Financing Authority (Prifa) and the Public Finance Corp. Puerto Rico general obligation debt is…
In the U.K., a panel for the Court of Appeal refused to overturn the criminal conviction of ex-UBS (UBS) and Citigroup (C) trader. Tom Hayes is behind bars for conspiring to rig Libor. However, while his conviction will stand, the panel did lower his criminal sentence from 14 years to…
Details of the settlement involving a dozen big banks accused of conspiring to rig prices and restrict competition in the credit default swaps market have been released. According to papers filed in federal court in Manhattan last week, the following firms will collectively pay nearly $1.9 billion: · JPMorgan Chase…
UBS Fund Advisor LLC and UBS Willow Management LLC will pay $17.5M, including $13 million to investors that were hurt to resolve Securities and Exchange Commission charges accusing them of failing to disclose that there was a change in an investment strategy involving closed-end fund UBS Willow Fund LLC. The…
UBS AG (UBS) has agreed to pay $19.5 million to resolve SEC charges accusing the firm of making misleading or false statements and omissions in offering materials for structured notes connected to a proprietary strategy for foreign exchange trading. The firm is accused of falsely stating to investors in the…