MIAMI and LOS ANGELES, April 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Investor advocate lawyers at Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. (“DKR”) (http://www.dkrpa.com) have filed additional FINRA arbitration claims against UBS Financial Services, Inc. on behalf of UBS customers who lost money in UBS’s Yield Enhancement Strategy or the “YES” options program. The claims allege that UBS misrepresented the risks of its options program, failed to use proper risk controls, and failed to adequately supervise the YES options program.
UBS YES Program Exposed Investors to Great Risk
UBS represented that its YES options strategy was a way to generate a modest amount of additional income for investors. But the risky, complex strategy caused significant investor losses.
As part of its YES program, UBS claimed that it would buy and sell combinations of puts and calls on the S&P 500 Index in a way that would limit the risk of loss. UBS’s YES marketing materials touted “downside protection” as a central feature of the YES program. UBS also claimed that the performance of its YES options program would have limited correlation to market movements.
Where Was the Promised Downside Protection?
Notwithstanding UBS’s representations that its YES program would incorporate “downside protection” and would have limited correlation to market movements, YES investors suffered large losses in December 2018 when the stock market was volatile and then again when the market declined in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe that UBS misrepresented the risks of its YES program and failed to implement risk controls that could have provided the promised “downside protection.” It is apparent that the performance of the UBS YES options strategy correlated directly with the movements of the market, contrary to UBS’s representations.
Investors May Be Able to Recover Their UBS Yield Enhancement Strategy Losses
It has been reported that UBS customers had approximately $6 billion exposed to the YES options strategy. Total YES losses could reach $1 billion. UBS YES investors can file FINRA arbitration claims in an effort to recover their YES losses. FINRA arbitration is a mandatory, private dispute resolution process for customers’ disputes with brokerage firms.
If you lost money in the YES program you should contact a DKR lawyer. DKR has filed FINRA arbitration claims on behalf of a number of UBS YES investors. Our firm has extensive FINRA arbitration experience representing investors who have lost money in risky options strategies.
From its offices in Miami, Los Angeles, West Palm Beach, New York, and Naples, Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. represents investors throughout the United States, Mexico, and throughout Latin America in stockbroker negligence and brokerage firm misconduct cases.
Contact:
Jeffrey B. Kaplan, Esq.
jkaplan@dkrpa.com
2665 S. Bayshore Drive
Penthouse 2B
Miami, Florida 33133
(888) 578-6255
URL http://www.dkrpa.com
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Los Angeles, CA 90067
(888) 578-6255