Post by Sapphire Capital on Jul 12, 2008 23:36:19 GMT 4
The Law Offices of Stuart D. Meissner LLC Announces the Filing of 2.5 Million Dollar Auction Rate Securities Claim Against UBS Financial Services On behalf of Broker's Father
NEW YORK, Jul 11, 2008 (PrimeNewswire via COMTEX) ----The nationally recognized New York based Securities Arbitration Law firm of Stuart D. Meissner LLC announced that it has filed an arbitration claim against UBS Financial Services Inc. and David Shulman, its Head of Municipal Securities Group seeking 2.5 million dollars in rescission, as well as interest and punitive damages. The Claim relates to the fraudulent sale of Auction Rate Securities through UBS brokers, one of whom was the 70 year old client's own son involving his father's own IRA account.
The Claim alleges that UBS misled investors by not providing material information regarding the liquidity risks of such securities as well as the manner in which the auctions were run and the fact that UBS participated in propping up the ARS market fictionally creating liquidity where there was none. It is alleged that UBS failed to inform their brokers of not only the liquidity risks or internal conflicts which existed between the investment banking arm of UBS and its retail clients, but they also failed to inform their brokers and clients of numerous critical features related to such securities. For example, it is alleged that UBS did not disclose the penalty interest rate feature being triggered upon auction failures, which feature directly impacts upon the likelihood of the issuer refinancing if the auctions were to fail, as they did in mid-February 2008 and had done before in the past. The Auction Rate Certificates purchased in the account involve various Student Loan related securities including Missouri Higher Education, Pennsylvania Student Loan, Iowa Student Loan, Illinois Student Loan Assist, Utah Student Board of Regents, and Kentucky Higher Education. The securities were misleadingly listed under "cash alternatives" on the account statements. However, it is alleged that rather than being "cash alternatives" the securities were in reality long term instruments with maturity dates ranging up to the year 2045 when the investor would be 107 years of age and the only liquidity was through industry created auctions which UBS assisted in propping up until they withdrew from the market in February 2008.
The State of Massachusetts recently filed a fraud complaint against UBS. The Complaint, which is cited to in the Claim, alleges that UBS and its Head of Municipal Securities, David Shulman, engaged in an internal marketing campaign in the latter part of 2007, attempting to utilize UBS' retail sales force so as to dump UBS' own inventory of Auction Rate Securities on its own retail investor clients and that UBS failed to inform its own brokers as to such scheme. At the same time, it is alleged that Mr. Shulman sold his personal stake in Auction Rate Securities.
The Meissner law firm expects to file other similar UBS related Auction Rate Securities claims due to the Massachusetts action and seeks cooperative witnesses. The Meissner firm is a nationally recognized law firm with its primary focus being securities arbitration matters and led by former N.Y. Assistant Attorney General and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Stuart D. Meissner Esq.
SOURCE: The Law Offices of Stuart D. Meissner LLC
NEW YORK, Jul 11, 2008 (PrimeNewswire via COMTEX) ----The nationally recognized New York based Securities Arbitration Law firm of Stuart D. Meissner LLC announced that it has filed an arbitration claim against UBS Financial Services Inc. and David Shulman, its Head of Municipal Securities Group seeking 2.5 million dollars in rescission, as well as interest and punitive damages. The Claim relates to the fraudulent sale of Auction Rate Securities through UBS brokers, one of whom was the 70 year old client's own son involving his father's own IRA account.
The Claim alleges that UBS misled investors by not providing material information regarding the liquidity risks of such securities as well as the manner in which the auctions were run and the fact that UBS participated in propping up the ARS market fictionally creating liquidity where there was none. It is alleged that UBS failed to inform their brokers of not only the liquidity risks or internal conflicts which existed between the investment banking arm of UBS and its retail clients, but they also failed to inform their brokers and clients of numerous critical features related to such securities. For example, it is alleged that UBS did not disclose the penalty interest rate feature being triggered upon auction failures, which feature directly impacts upon the likelihood of the issuer refinancing if the auctions were to fail, as they did in mid-February 2008 and had done before in the past. The Auction Rate Certificates purchased in the account involve various Student Loan related securities including Missouri Higher Education, Pennsylvania Student Loan, Iowa Student Loan, Illinois Student Loan Assist, Utah Student Board of Regents, and Kentucky Higher Education. The securities were misleadingly listed under "cash alternatives" on the account statements. However, it is alleged that rather than being "cash alternatives" the securities were in reality long term instruments with maturity dates ranging up to the year 2045 when the investor would be 107 years of age and the only liquidity was through industry created auctions which UBS assisted in propping up until they withdrew from the market in February 2008.
The State of Massachusetts recently filed a fraud complaint against UBS. The Complaint, which is cited to in the Claim, alleges that UBS and its Head of Municipal Securities, David Shulman, engaged in an internal marketing campaign in the latter part of 2007, attempting to utilize UBS' retail sales force so as to dump UBS' own inventory of Auction Rate Securities on its own retail investor clients and that UBS failed to inform its own brokers as to such scheme. At the same time, it is alleged that Mr. Shulman sold his personal stake in Auction Rate Securities.
The Meissner law firm expects to file other similar UBS related Auction Rate Securities claims due to the Massachusetts action and seeks cooperative witnesses. The Meissner firm is a nationally recognized law firm with its primary focus being securities arbitration matters and led by former N.Y. Assistant Attorney General and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Stuart D. Meissner Esq.
SOURCE: The Law Offices of Stuart D. Meissner LLC