UBS will seek to have $81M Finra ruling overturned

UBS AG, the largest Swiss bank, will seek to reverse a ruling requiring it to pay a U.S. company for business lost when its funds were tied up during the collapse of the auction-rate securities market two years ago. “We strongly disagree with the arbitration panel’s decision on this legacy auction rate matter, and we will file a motion to overturn that decision,” Zurich-based UBS said in a statement. “We believe the outcome is unwarranted under both the facts and the law.” UBS was ordered by a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel to pay $80.8 million to Bethesda, Maryland-based Kajeet Inc., a marketer of cellular phones, under a procedure allowing companies to seek damages suffered because their assets were frozen during the auction-rate debacle of early 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.