SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Feb. 12, 2015 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Lawyers with the Securities Law Firm of Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LLP, www.sseklaw.com, continue investigating investor claims involving Puerto Rico bonds and Puerto Rico bond funds.  Recently, it was uncovered that as early as the summer of 2011, two years before Puerto Rico bonds crashed, UBS financial advisors were concerned about the risks of these investments to the point that many UBS advisors refused to continue selling them.

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According to numerous news reports, Miguel Ferrer, who was at the time the chairman of UBS Financial Services Inc. of Puerto Rico, held a meeting with these reluctant UBS advisors in June 2011 and one of those advisors recorded the meeting.  Ferrer emphasized in the recording that many of these brokers had clients with cash in their accounts which was not generating revenue for UBS.  According to the recording, the advisors gave UBS a list of at least 22 different problems with Puerto Rico bonds and UBS’s Puerto Rican bond funds, which was why the advisors were no longer pushing these investments on Puerto Rico investors.  Ferrer told these advisors they needed to start pushing UBS’s proprietary Puerto Rico bond funds to their clients again, or they needed to leave their jobs at UBS.    Instead of disclosing and discussing the risks with their clients, Ferrer stated these advisors needed to focus on the “attractive benefits” of these Puerto Rico bond funds.

These comments made by a UBS executive may substantially strengthen claims made by clients of UBS who bought Puerto Rico bonds or UBS proprietary Puerto Rico bond funds at the recommendation or advice of their UBS broker.

If you are or were a customer of UBS, Banco Popular, or another brokerage firm who invested in Puerto Rico bonds, Puerto Rican bond funds or similar securities, it is not too late to contact the law firm of Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LLP for an evaluation of your account to determine if you might have a claim to recover some or all of your losses.  All communications will be kept strictly confidential, and you will not be billed in any way for a consultation. 

Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LLP has a team of attorneys, consultants and staff with more than 100 years of combined experience in the securities industry and in securities law. For more than two decades, our firm has represented thousands of investors throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and internationally to recover losses suffered through brokerage firms and banks. We have represented clients in Federal and state courts and in arbitration through the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the New York Stock Exchange Inc. (NYSE), the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and in private arbitration actions. More information can also be found at www.ubs-taxfree-puertorico.com.

Contact Info: 800-259-9010

713-580-8914 to speak to Spanish fluent staff

Sam Edwards [email protected]

Kirk Smith [email protected]

Luis Acevedo [email protected]