Law Offices Of Charles J. Piven, P.A. Announces Class Action Lawsuit Against UBS-AG -- BNGLX, ACSTX, ACEIX, ACTHX
Market Wire, September, 2005
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.
CONTACT: Law Offices Of Charles J. Piven, P.A., Baltimore, Maryland Charles J. Piven 410/986-0036 Email Contact
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