May 5, 2014, San Juan, Puerto Rico – The Securities Arbitration Law Firm of KlaymanToskes, www.perdidasenbonospr.com; www.sueubspuertorico.com, together with Carlo Law Offices, P.S.C. located in Puerto Rico, announced today that they filed a claim against UBS Financial Services Incorporated of Puerto Rico and UBS Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: UBS) (collectively “UBS”), on behalf of a retiree from Puerto Rico. The claim, filed with FINRA’s arbitration department, seeks to recover damages sustained in nine (9) UBS Puerto Rico Closed-End Bond Funds (“CEBFs”): Puerto Rico Fixed Income Fund, Puerto Rico Fixed Income Fund II, Puerto Rico Fixed Income Fund III, Puerto Rico Fixed Income Fund IV, Puerto Rico Investors Tax Free Fund V, Puerto Rico AAA Portfolio Bond Fund, Puerto Rico Tax-Free Target Maturity Fund, Puerto Rico GNMA & U.S. Gov. Target Maturity Fund and Puerto Rico Mortgage Backed & US Govt. Fund.
The Complaint alleges that the Claimant trusted UBS and its financial advisor, Gustavo Mattei, with her life savings to recommend investments that would provide income with low risk. Completely self-made, Claimant retired in 2006 having accumulated what she regarded as enough money to live comfortably, albeit frugally, in retirement. Instead of maintaining a safe, low-risk fixed income portfolio, Mattei and UBS recommended its proprietary CEBFs that were leveraged and concentrated in Puerto Rico municipal bonds. At UBS, Claimant had over $1.5 million of her savings in nine (9) of the firm’s proprietary CEBFs. Mattei and UBS failed to disclose to Claimant the risk associated with the UBS PR CEBFs in that they are leveraged, lack diversification, and lack liquidity as they trade on a secondary market that is controlled and operated by UBS. Claimant invested in the UBS PR CEBFs recommended by UBS for income assuming that they were low-risk investments. Unbeknownst to Claimant, the UBS PR CEBFs incorporated a high degree of risk. Claimant was exposed to concentration, leverage, and lack of liquidity. Had this information and the true nature of the risks of these investments been revealed to and known by Claimant, or properly disclosed, she absolutely would not have invested her monies in these products.
The sole purpose of this release is to investigate, on behalf of our clients, the sales practices of UBS in connection with the sale of CEBFs to their customers. Current and former customers of UBS, or other full-service brokerage firms in Puerto Rico, who purchased CEBFs, and have information relating to the manner in which the firm represented these products, are encouraged to contact Steven D. Toskes of KlaymanToskes, or Lcdo. Osvaldo Carlo of Carlo Law Offices, at (787) 919-7325, or visit us on the web at www.perdidasenbonospr.com or www.sueubspuertorico.com.