The Financial Services Authority, Britain’s main financial regulator, fined UBS £9.45 million ($14.8 million) on Tuesday for improperly selling an A.I.G. fund.
The regulator said that from 2003 to 2008, nearly 2,000 wealthy customers were sold the AIG Enhanced Variable Rate Fund, which was a money-market fund that also invested in asset-backed securities and floating rate notes. During the 2008 financial crisis, those funds fell below book value and many customers sought to withdraw their money, creating a run on the fund, the regulator said.
As a result, the fund was suspended, preventing hundreds of remaining customers from immediately withdrawing all of their money.
UBS also failed to deal properly with customer complaints about the fund sale, the regulator said, adding that UBS had inappropriately sold the fund to at least 19 customers and had mishandled at least 11 complaints.
The bank “failed to ensure it understood the product it was selling, failed to recommend it to te right customers and failed to take effective action in the financial crisis when the problems with the fund came to the fore,†said Tracey McDermott, director of enforcement and financial crime at the authority. Customers are expected to receive about £10 million in compensation as a result of the regulatory action.
