In September 2018, a former client of UBS Financial Services Inc. settled a FINRA arbitration for $1.5 million for losses sustained from investment in VelocityShares 3x Long Crude ETN and Valeant Pharmaceutical International, Inc. The investor was a client of Madeleine Antekelian (CRD# 1440454), Jennifer Thompson (CRD# 4303943) and David Bigler (CRD# 2525588). The clients sought $21,113,446.02 in damages.
The causes of action included breach of fiduciary duty; fraud; negligent misrepresentation; negligence; breach of contract; violation of federal securities laws and FINRA rules; and failure to supervise. The causes of action relate to Claimant’s investment in VelocityShares 3x Long Crude ETN and Valeant Pharmaceutical International, Inc. The FINRA arbitration hearing was conducted in Los Angeles, California. The panel recommended the expungement of this case from the records of Antekelian, Thompson and Bigler.
An ETN is a senior, unsecured, unsubordinated debt security issued by an underwriting bank. It has a maturity date and is backed only by the credit of the issuer, and is designed to provide investors access to the returns of various market benchmarks. According to the website, “VelocityShares 3x Long Crude Oil ETN is an exchange-traded note issued by Citigroup Global Markets Holdings Inc. and guaranteed by Citigroup Inc. The Note will provide investors with a cash payment at the scheduled maturity or early redemption or acceleration based on the performance of the underlying index, S&P GSCI Crude Oil Index ER.” These are high-risk trades that are suitable for day traders only and not for investors with a conservative investment portfolio.
Valeant Pharmaceutical International, Inc. has been accused of violating federal securities regulations by marking up drug prices and then selling the drugs through a pharmacy network, without disclosing the full scope of the transactions to stockholders. The drug company is being sued by the State of Florida, alleging the state’s pension fund lost more than $62 million in stock value because of federal securities violations by Valeant Pharmaceutical International, Inc. Valeant Pharmaceutical International, Inc. is also facing an $80 billion claim filed in August by Lord Abbett & Co., a mutual-fund firm. Valeant Pharmaceutical International, Inc. has $30 billion in debt as of May 2018. Valeant Pharmaceutical International, Inc. changed its name to Bausch Health Companies Inc. in May 2018 after it sought to distance itself from a series of scandals and accounting issues under previous management.
Antekelian has been registered with UBS Financial Services Inc. in Beverly Hills, California since 2001. Antekelian has also been the subject of two additional customer complaints in 2001 and 2012, both of which were denied, according to her CRD report.
Thompson has been registered with UBS Financial Services Inc. in Los Angeles, California since 2004.
Bigler was registered with UBS Financial Services Inc. in Beverly Hills, California from 1997 to 2017.
Pursuant to FINRA Rules, member firms are responsible for supervising a broker’s activities during the time the broker is registered with the firm. Therefore, UBS Financial Services Inc. may be liable for investment or other losses suffered by Antekelian, Thompson and Bigler’s customers.
Erez Law represents investors in the United States for claims against brokers and brokerage firms for wrongdoing. If and have experienced investment losses, please call us at 888-840-1571 or complete our contact form for a free consultation. Erez Law is a nationally recognized law firm representing individuals, trusts, corporations and institutions in claims against brokerage firms, banks and insurance companies on a contingency fee basis.
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