Published: September 08, 2005
Law Offices Of Charles J. Piven, P.A. Announces Class Action Lawsuit Against UBS-AG -- BNGLX, ACSTX, ACEIX, ACTHX
Law Offices Of Charles J. Piven, P.A. today
announced that a securities class action was commenced on behalf of
shareholders who purchased from UBS Financial Services, Inc., formerly
known as UBS PaineWebber, Inc., one or more of the UBS proprietary funds
("UBS Funds") or non-proprietary funds participating in the UBS Revenue
Sharing Program (the "UBS Tier I Fund,") including, but not limited to
(NASDAQ: BNGLX) (NASDAQ: ACSTX) (NASDAQ: ACEIX) (NASDAQ: ACTHX) between May
1, 2000 and April 30, 2005, inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to
pursue remedies under the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act") and
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act").
The action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York against defendant UBS and its affiliated entities. The
"UBS Tier I Funds" includes mutual funds in the following mutual fund
families:
-- AIM
-- Alliance
-- American Funds
-- Columbia
-- Davis Funds
-- Dreyfus
-- Eaton Vance
-- Federated
-- Fidelity
-- Franklin Templeton
-- John Hancock
-- Hartford
-- Lord Abbett
-- MFS
-- Oppenheimer
-- PIMCO
-- Pioneer
-- Putnam
-- Scudder
-- UBS Global Asset Management
-- Van Kampen
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants served as
financial advisors who purportedly provided unbiased and honest investment
advice to their clients. The complaint also alleges that unbeknownst to
investors, defendants, in clear contravention of their disclosure
obligations and fiduciary responsibilities, failed to properly disclose
that they had engaged in a scheme to aggressively push UBS sales personnel
to steer clients into purchasing certain UBS Funds and UBS Tier I Funds
(collectively, "Shelf Space Funds") that provided financial incentives and
rewards to UBS and its personnel based on sales. The complaint also
alleges that Defendants' undisclosed sales practices created an
insurmountable conflict of interest by providing substantial monetary
incentives to sell Shelf-Space Funds to their clients, even though such
investments were not in the clients' best interest. The complaint also
alleges that UBS' failure to disclose the incentives constituted violations
of federal securities laws.
The action also includes a subclass of people who held any shares of UBS
Mutual Funds. The complaint additionally alleges that the investment
advisor subsidiary of UBS, UBS Global Asset Management created further
undisclosed material conflicts of interest by entering into revenue sharing
agreements with UBS financial Advisors to push investors into UBS
proprietary funds, regardless of whether such investments were in the
investors' best interests. The complaint also alleges that the investment
advisors financed these arrangements by illegally charging excessive and
improper fees to the fund that should have been invested in the underlying
portfolio and that in doing so, they breached their fiduciary duties to
investors under the Investment Company Act and state law and decreased
shareholders' investment returns.
The action includes a second subclass of persons who purchased a UBS
Financial Plan that held Tier I mutual funds. The UBS Financial Plans
include, but are not limited to UBS Personalized Asset Consulting and
Evaluation Plan, InsightOne accounts, and/or resource management accounts.
No class has yet been certified in the above action. Until a class is
certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. If
you purchased any of the UBS Funds or UBS Tier I Funds through a UBS
Financial Services, Inc., formerly known as UBS PaineWebber, Inc., broker
between May 1, 2000 through April 30, 2005, inclusive, and sustained
damages, you may move the court no later than September 30, 2005 to serve
as a lead plaintiff for the proposed class. In order to serve as a lead
plaintiff, you must meet certain legal requirements. To be a member of the
proposed class you need not take any action at this time, and you may
retain counsel of your choice.
If you purchased through a UBS Financial Services, Inc., formerly known as
UBS PaineWebber, Inc., broker shares of one or more of the UBS Funds or UBS
Tier I Funds between May 1, 2000 and April 30, 2005, inclusive, and want to
discuss your legal rights, you may e-mail or call Law Offices Of Charles J.
Piven, P.A. who will, without obligation or cost to you, attempt to answer
your questions. Charles J. Piven has been involved in securities
litigation for approximately 20 years. You may contact Law Offices Of
Charles J. Piven, P.A. at The World Trade Center-Baltimore, 401 East
Pratt Street, Suite 2525, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, by email at
hoffman@pivenlaw.com or by calling 410/986-0036.
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