LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Auction Rate Securities
Boston, MA: (May-07-08) State Attorney General Martha Coakley's office brought charges against Swiss bank UBS, over investments that proved to be risky and resulted in losses instead of generating cash for municipal budgets. The suit was filed after state led investigations into whether the investment bank misled the governments into believing that their investments were sufficiently low-risk to make them permissible for cities and towns under state law.
At the heart of the dispute are investments nineteen Massachusetts local governments and public agencies made through UBS in short-term bonds known as auction-rate securities, which were once considered safe. The suit stated that several local governments invested in the more than $300 billion auction-rate securities market to build up their operations budgets, but the entities discovered that their cash was frozen as buyers dried up.
As part of a settlement reached in the case, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced that nineteen Massachusetts local governments and public agencies will recover more than $35 million from UBS. She stated that following this deal, her office was still reviewing whether they ought to propose additional penalties against the company under the state's False Claims Act. [YAHOO FINANCE: MASS. GOV'TS, AGENCIES TO RECOVER $35M IN UBS SETTLEMENT]
Published on May-8-08
At the heart of the dispute are investments nineteen Massachusetts local governments and public agencies made through UBS in short-term bonds known as auction-rate securities, which were once considered safe. The suit stated that several local governments invested in the more than $300 billion auction-rate securities market to build up their operations budgets, but the entities discovered that their cash was frozen as buyers dried up.
As part of a settlement reached in the case, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced that nineteen Massachusetts local governments and public agencies will recover more than $35 million from UBS. She stated that following this deal, her office was still reviewing whether they ought to propose additional penalties against the company under the state's False Claims Act. [
Legal Help
If you have a similar problem and would like to be contacted by a lawyer at no cost or obligation, please click the link below.Published on May-8-08
