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Feds Eye UBS as Subprime Probe Widens

Criminal prosecutors target Swiss banking giant for mispricing

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 2, 2008 12:06 PM CST

(Newser) – US criminal prosecutors investigating the subprime mortgage mess want to find out if UBS deliberately misled investors, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Swiss banking giant may have put mortgage bonds on its books at high prices despite knowing their valuations had plummeted. There are multiple probes into the mortgage crisis; until now most of them have involved civil authorities.

Insiders say that the SEC, which works closely with criminal prosecutors, has upgraded its probe of UBS and Merrill Lynch into a full-fledged investigation. The FBI is looking at 14 companies in its own subprime probe. But experts say that the hazy nature of securities valuation could make it difficult for any prosecutor to prove that banks deliberately made misleading statements.

People leave the headquarters of Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York in this Nov. 14, 2007 file photo. An SEC probe into Merrill Lynch and UBS is said to have now been upgraded into a full investigation. (AP Photo/Jin Lee, file)
People leave the headquarters of Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York in this Nov. 14, 2007 file photo. An SEC probe into Merrill Lynch and UBS is said to have now been upgraded into a full investigation....   (Associated Press)
Swiss Bank UBS on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008. An SEC probe into Merrill Lynch and UBS is said to have now been upgraded into a full investigation. (AP Photo/Keystone, Walter Bieri)
Swiss Bank UBS on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008. An SEC probe into Merrill Lynch and UBS is said to have now been upgraded into a full investigation. (AP Photo/Keystone,...   (Associated Press)
People arrive at the Merrill Lynch building on a rainy morning in New York in this Nov. 15, 2007 file photo. An SEC probe into Merrill Lynch and UBS is said to have now been upgraded into a full investigation. (AP Photo/Brian McDermott, file)
People arrive at the Merrill Lynch building on a rainy morning in New York in this Nov. 15, 2007 file photo. An SEC probe into Merrill Lynch and UBS is said to have now been upgraded into a full investigation....   (Associated Press)
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