UBS Puerto Rico

In the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Puerto Rico bond fraud case against ex-UBS Puerto Rico broker Jose Ramirez, a federal judge has found that Ramirez committed fraud and was in violation of securities laws when he directed customers to use lines of credit to purchase Puerto Rico closed-end funds. In 2015, the SEC had filed charges against Ramirez accusing him of misleading customers regarding the Puerto Rico closed-end funds while advising them to use money from UBS Bank USA credit lines to buy UBS Puerto Rico fund shares. Ramirez allegedly made an additional $2.8 million in commissions as a result. The brokerage firm fired Mr. Ramirez in 2014.

According to U.S. District Court Judge Pedro Delgado-Hernandez, who granted the SEC’s motion for summary judgment, the ex-UBS Puerto Rick broker lied to customers and failed to tell them that if their collateral went down in value and reached a certain point, the customers might need to have their accounts liquidated to pay back the loans.

In 2013, following a number of credit downgrades, the Puerto Rico closed-end funds saw a substantial drop in value. By September 2013, more than three dozen of Ramirez’s customers had $37 million in “margin maintenance calls” that required many clients to have their accounts liquidated.

According to Bloomberg, the retirement system of Puerto Rico has joined a lawsuit against UBS Financial Services, Inc. (UBS) for poor returns that the retirement system received on $3 billion the it borrowed on UBS’s recommendation. Six beneficiaries originally brought this Puerto Rico bond fraud case in 2011 against UBS and two smaller broker-dealers.UBS was the underwriter of bonds sold by the judiciary retirement systems and employees eight years ago. UBS also served as investment consultant, adviser, and bond fund manager. The bond proceeds were supposed to earn a positive return as compared to the interest paid on the bonds. According to UBS, this would help Puerto Rico resolve some of its pension shortfall. However, UBS, according to the complaint, put too much of the bond proceeds toward low-yielding accounts that made “negative income.”

Now, Puerto Rico’s pension funds are in financial trouble and could go broke as early as 2018. System administrator Pedro R. Ortiz said that the system’s board is looking to obtain a “significant recovery” for pensioners and participants.

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