FINRA Arbitration Provides Avenue for UBS YES Strategy Investors to Recover Their Losses
The UBS yield enhancement strategy (YES) has proven to be a nightmare for many of the firm’s clients. While UBS financial advisors touted the firm’s YES strategy as a low-risk opportunity for investors to profit from market stability, volatility in the market has caused many UBS YES strategy investors to lose hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars.
For investors who have lost money with the UBS yield enhancement strategy, FINRA arbitration provides an avenue to seek compensation. Investigations have revealed that many UBS advisors who recommended the YES strategy to their clients either: (i) did not understand the risks the strategy entailed or (ii) withheld information about the risks so that they could earn commissions from their clients’ investments.
Multiple investors have already won claims in FINRA arbitration against UBS, and many more cases are pending. Since the statute of limitations for filing claims with FIRNA is six years, most UBS YES strategy investors still have time to file.
To date, investors have succeeded in recovering their losses by arguing that UBS investors provided unsuitable investment advice. Federal securities laws require advisors to provide “suitable” investment recommendations that take into account individual investors’ level of sophistication, risk tolerance, portfolio value and other factors. By failing to disclose the risks of the UBS YES strategy (whether intentionally or unintentionally), UBS advisors provided “unsuitable” recommendations, and this provides grounds for investors to seek compensation for investment fraud in FINRA arbitration.