SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Oct. 7, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lawyers with the Securities Law Firm of Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LLP, www.sseklaw.com, have spoken with a number of Puerto Rican UBS Financial Services, Inc. ("UBS") clients and continue to investigate claims involving Puerto Rico UBS bond funds. UBS, the single largest and most influential brokerage firm in Puerto Rico, has recently begun to see devastating losses in many of its clients' accounts as a result of its proprietary bond funds.
Many of UBS's clients in Puerto Rico purchased shares of these proprietary funds at the recommendation of their UBS broker. These funds were sold as low risk, fixed income options for Puerto Rican investors, where the funds themselves would purchase municipal bonds issued by the Puerto Rican government. What many investors did not understand is that these funds were often highly leveraged and carried significantly higher risks than what their continental United States counterparts did.
The following funds are some or all of the affected proprietary funds sold by UBS in Puerto Rico: Multi-Select Securities Puerto Rico Fund, Puerto Rico AAA Portfolio Target Maturity Fund, Inc., Puerto Rico AAA Portfolio Bond Fund, Puerto Rico AAA Portfolio Bond Fund II, Puerto Rico Fixed Income Fund, Puerto Rico Fixed Income Fund II, Puerto Rico Fixed Income Fund III, Puerto Rico Fixed Income Fund IV, Puerto Rico Fixed Income Fund V, Puerto Rico Fixed Income Fund VI, Puerto Rico GNMA & U.S. Government Target Maturity Fund, Puerto Rico Investors Tax-Free Fund, Puerto Rico Investors Tax-Free Fund II, Puerto Rico Investors Tax-Free Fund III, Puerto Rico Investors Tax-Free Fund IV, Puerto Rico Investors Tax-Free Fund V, Puerto Rico Investors Tax-Free Fund VI, Puerto Rico Mortgage-Backed & U.S. Government Securities Fund, Puerto Rico Short Term Investment Fund, Tax-Free Puerto Rico Fund, Tax-Free Puerto Rico Fund II, and Tax-Free Puerto Rico Target Maturity Fund.
If you are or were a customer of UBS in Puerto Rico who invested in these or similar securities, 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 attempt 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.