Investors Win $2.5 Million from UBS Over Puerto Rico Bond Fund Losses
Individual investors who have experienced steep losses in UBS PR proprietary closed-end municipal-bond funds are starting to get some money back following several legal victories in Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitrations.
Investors scored their latest win on Tuesday when a FINRA arbitration panel ordered the Puerto Rican unit of UBS AG to pay about $2.5 million to a San Juan couple who bought Puerto Rico bond funds that plummeted in value as the island commonwealth’s financial crisis deepened. The investors had requested up to $6 million in damages.
Earlier this year, UBS was ordered to pay nearly $1.5 million by FINRA panels, out of about $5.8 million requested, to investors in three other cases regarding the firms proprietary closed-end Puerto Rico bond funds.
The Swiss bank said it faces more than $1.1 billion in damages tied to its Puerto Rico funds and other investments in the commonwealth. Approximately 900 cases have already been filed with FINRA with lawyers preparing to file more after Puerto Rico defaulted on its debt payments for the first time earlier this month. More investor losses are likely as the island commonwealth seeks to restructure a debt load that Gov. Alejandro García Padilla said the government can’t repay.
The experience securities fraud attorneys at Colling Gilbert Wright are actively investigating and filing FINRA arbitrations for losses associated with marketing and sale of Puerto Rico proprietary closed-end bond funds. If you have lost money in one or more of these funds, contact our offices today for a free case evaluation.