Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. Files $4 Million AAA Arbitration Case Against UBS AG For The Sale Of Lehman Brothers Structured Products

MIAMI, Feb. 23, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The securities law firm of Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. ( http://www.dkrpa.com or http://www.investmentfraud-lawyer.com ) has filed an arbitration claim with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) on behalf of investors who lost $4 million in Lehman Brothers structured products that UBS AG recommended and sold. The claim alleges that UBS represented the securities as conservative and safe, whereas the Lehman Brothers securities actually subjected investors to substantial risk of loss. The claim further alleges that UBS made material misrepresentations and omissions when recommending and selling the Lehman Brothers structured products.

Notwithstanding the seemingly complex nature of the Lehman Brothers structured products, they were nothing more than risky unsecured debt issued by the financially troubled Lehman Brothers. When Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection, the value of the investments was largely wiped out.

One of the more disturbing aspects of UBS's conduct is that at or about the time that UBS was recommending that retail investors invest in Lehman Brothers securities, UBS was advising its institutional customers to sell Lehman Brothers securities and even to buy credit default swaps on Lehman Brothers, which served as a bet that Lehman Brothers would default on its debt. Moreover, at or about the same time, UBS also was divesting its own financial exposure to Lehman Brothers. "The fact that UBS appears to have been giving advice to its retail customers that was in direct conflict with the advice that UBS or its affiliates was giving to its larger institutional clients is appalling, especially when you consider that UBS did not tell its retail customers about the contradictory advice," said Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. attorney Jeffrey Kaplan.

To date, there have been eight arbitration results in cases against UBS concerning Lehman Brothers structured products, including so-called "principal protection notes." Seven of those resulted in monetary awards entered in favor of the investors. "We believe that the arbitration awards entered against UBS in Lehman structured products cases reflects that arbitrators believe that UBS was dishonest with its retail customers when it misrepresented Lehman structured products as safe and when it failed to disclose various material information," said attorney Kaplan.