The European business of Swiss investment bank UBS has been probed by prosecutors in Milan, after it allegedly helped an Italian wealth firm defraud 117 clients.
According to newswire Bloomberg, Milan-based investment and wealth management firm Sofia used UBS as an intermediary to deposit and move around €6m (£5m, $6.6m) for its clients between 2013 and 2017.
Prosecutors are set to accuse UBS of hiding the fraud by obstructing authorities and failing to report the transactions.
Reporting restriction
The Italian financial police, knows as Guardia di Finanza, and prosecutors carried out the investigation, but when contacted by International Adviser they were not able to comment as the Milan court placed reporting restrictions on the case.
The financial police, however, told local paper Il Fatto Quotidiano, that clients were not informed of the high level of risk their investments were exposed to.
The bonds they were invested in were non-tradeable and lacked pricing, it added.
The Italian regulator, Banca d’Italia, forced Sofia to enter administration on 20 September 2017 and it was liquidated on 24 May 2018.
IA contacted UBS and the firm said “we don’t comment on ongoing legal proceedings”.
