UBS YES Strategy Customers Awarded $371K

FINRA Panel’s Ruling is UBS Financial’s Third Loss Involving Yield Enhancement Strategy

In a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration ruling, UBS Financial Services (UBS) must pay an Ohio couple $371K for financial losses they sustained from the brokerage firm’s Yield Enhancement Strategy (YES).

This is the third UBS Yes Strategy arbitration claim that the broker-dealer has lost, including one award for $1M to two Denver investors this year. The first award against UBS over its Yield Enhancement Strategy, for $90K, was granted to an investor in December.

In this latest UBS YES Strategy case, the claimants alleged broker negligence, misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, negligent supervision, and violation of the Ohio Securities Act. Of the 371K award, more than $342K is for damages and $28,600 is for related costs.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) is representing investors who lost money from their involvement with UBS YES, a complex options overlay strategy that was unsuitably recommended and misrepresented to many of the firm’s customers. Contact our securities fraud attorneys today so that we can help you explore your legal options.

Request to Expunge Record of Three UBS Brokers Denied

UBS Financial Services had sought to have this investor complaint expunged from the records of Richard Mark Held, Frederick Maximillian Kort, and Ortal Shachar. All three are not respondents in the case. The arbitration panel denied the firm’s request.

The three men also have other customer disputes noted on their BrokerCheck records, including other claims involving the firm’s YES Strategy. UBS broker Richard Held is named in another pending options overlay case in which the investor, alleging unsuitability and misrepresentations, is seeking $890K in damages. Held has worked for 48 years in the industry. He also runs The Held Group in Chicago.

Frederick Kort, who is an ex-UBS broker with 10 years in the industry, has two other pending YES Strategy claims on his record. These include one requesting over $343,500 in damages and another case, brought in March, in which the claimant wants $575K in damages. The broker-dealer fired him in 2018 for what appears to be an unrelated matter. Kort is a registered investment advisor with IHT Wealth Management, which is also in Chicago.

Both Kort and Held also have other investor claims on their BrokerCheck records unrelated to UBS YES Strategy.

UBS broker Ortal Shachar has two customer disputes on his BrokerCheck. There is this latest FINRA arbitration case and the $890K YES Strategy claim brought last year that also appears to have involved Held.

UBS YES Was Too Risky for Many Investors

Many UBS YES Strategy investors lost a lot of money when the CBOE Volatility Index hit its highest level in a very long time in 2018. While investors were assured by UBS brokers and financial advisors that they could expect to recover what they lost, this did not happen. They lost even more money when COVID-19 struck.

Most UBS YES Strategy investors had no idea how much risk or volatility they were taking on. Please contact our investment fraud attorneys at SSEK Law Firm today.

Over the years, our securities law firm has successfully pursued FINRA arbitration claims against UBS Financial Services for significant losses sustained by its customers that were caused by fraud or negligence. Call our lawyers at (800) 259-9010 today.