UBS to Pay $25 Million to Settle SEC Fraud Charges Over Complex Options Products
UBS Group AG agreed to pay $25 million to settle fraud charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission over a complex options-trading strategy that lost customers tens of millions of dollars.
The Swiss bank pitched the strategy, called Yield Enhancement Strategy, as relatively low risk, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. YES involved multiple options trades on stock indexes that produced positive returns when indexes such as the S&P 500 moved steadily, but spiraled into large losses when markets became more volatile. UBS customers lost at least $60 million as of mid-2019.
