New York State sues UBS, alleges auction-rate fraud

By Joseph A. Giannone 1:50 p.m. 07/24/2008
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a civil lawsuit on Thursday against UBS AG, accusing the Swiss bank of deceptively steering customers into auction-rate securities that this year became impossible to sell amid the credit crunch.

The suit, filed in New York state court, accuses UBS of deceptively selling auction-rate securities to customers as cash equivalents. Cuomo also accused unidentified senior executives of wrongdoing, citing subpoenaed e-mails that he said detailed how they dumped $21 million in personal holdings as the auction-rate market collapsed and while the bank still sold the securities to customers.

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