Former UBS broker barred for inflating customer account value, Finra says

A former broker with UBS Group AG's wealth management unit was barred from the brokerage industry after providing a customer with false weekly account statements over a period of six years, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. Jeffrey Hamilton Howell sent false weekly reports to a customer from September 2008 to November 2014, overvaluing the account by as much as $3 million, according to a settlement notice accepted by Finra on Oct. 13. He allegedly altered three UBS account statements to hide the inaccuracies in the reports. Mr. Howell created and sent his customer more than 300 weekly "Stock Tracking Reports" that were supposed to reflect the value of the customer's portfolio but actually misstated it in amounts ranging from $289,000 in September 2008 to about $3 million in November 2014, according to the notice. Mr. Howell used his personal e-mail account to send some of the false reports, leaving UBS with inaccurate books and records, Finra alleged in the document. Mr. Howell was terminated in 2014 and isn't currently associated with another Finra-regulated firm. He had been registered with UBS since 2002, the year he first entered the securities industry, according to Finra's BrokerCheck. Mr. Howell agreed to be barred without admitting or denying the allegations, according to the settlement notice. Peter Stack, a spokesman for UBS, didn't immediately respond to an email and phone call seeking comment.