SEC Fines UBS $15 Million For Selling Unsuitable Products To Retail Customers

The Securities and Exchange Commission said UBS Financial Services agreed to give back $8.2 million to retail customers for "dropping the ball" by allowing poorly trained employees to sell those inexperienced investors complex financial products. UBS will also pay $6.8 million in penalties and interest to settle the charges. The SEC said that UBS failed to educate and train UBS registered representatives in connection with the sale of reverse convertible notes, for example. Certain registered representatives sold $548 million in RCNs to more than 8,700 relatively inexperienced retail customers, which was not appropriate given their investment profiles. UBS neither admitted nor denied the findings.