FINRA Arbitrators Award Nearly $470,000 To Investors in UBS YES Product

Posted on September 21st, 2022 at 1:23 PM
FINRA Arbitrators Award Nearly $470,000 To Investors in UBS YES Product

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law.

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel has ordered UBS to pay nearly $470,000 to clients who invested in a complex options strategy, known as the YES or Yield Enhancement Strategy.

The dispute revolved around Barbara Estay, who serves as the trustee of a trust in her name. Barbara and her husband, Dan Estay, a former executive at Abbott Laboratories, were clients in a UBS Chicago office. In February 2018, UBS advisors recommended that the couple invest stock options in the trust in YES. The strategy involved borrowing against an existing portfolio to subsequently purchase and sell S&P 500 options.

According to FINRA, the Estay Trust held the YES investments between early 2018 and summer 2019, which resulted in substantial losses. Barbara Estay filed a FINRA arbitration claim in April 2020 alleging fraud, misrepresentation and unsuitability, according to the award. A unanimous three-person FINRA arbitration panel held UBS liable and ordered the firm to pay compensatory damages, costs, and attorney’s fees, which totaled $468,126. UBS previously agreed to a $25 million regulatory settlement this past summer with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over YES investment recommendations.

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, regulatory and disciplinary matters.

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, advisors, finra, ubs

Return to Archive

TESTIMONIALS

Previous
Next

Thank You from the bottom of our hearts for all you have done for us. When we realized this was a very bad investment - we did not know where to turn for help. Then we received your name. When we called you - you were so kind to us and then agreed to help us. For this we are so very grateful. The world would be a much nicer place if there were more people like the two of you in it. We will always remember all the help and kindness you have shown us. Thank you so very very much for everything.

Wayne and Judy S.

LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

February 19, 2026
Wall Street Journal Analysis Questions Investor Gains Following DuPont's Decade-Long Breakup

A Wall Street Journal analysis has raised questions about investor returns following DuPont’s multi-year corporate restructuring, which divided the historic conglomerate into multiple independent companies.

February 18, 2026
American Portfolios Ordered to Pay $4.6 Million in Restitution Over Cash Sweep Program Disclosures

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has ordered American Portfolios Financial Services to return $4.6 million to customers and pay monetary sanctions after determining that the firm overcharged investors and failed to properly disclose how it generated revenue through a cash sweep program.

February 17, 2026
FINRA Fines Kingswood Capital Partners $150,000 for Supervisory Failures in GWG L Bond Sales

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) censured and fined San Diego–based broker-dealer Kingswood Capital Partners $150,000 after finding supervisory failures tied to sales of high-risk GWG L bonds.