UBS Group AG’s
rationale for the 2018 firing of a senior investment banker was defamatory and should be expunged from his record with regulators, according to an arbitration ruling issued this week.
The ruling, released Monday by a panel of arbitrators for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, holds that the reason for the termination of
James Boland
should be changed to “voluntary” and the explanation should be removed entirely.
The decision isn’t final as it still needs a signoff from Finra’s registrations, credentialing, education and disclosure department.
UBS fired Mr. Boland, a bank veteran who ran its leveraged-finance group, in December 2018. The bank accused him and a lieutenant of not informing superiors and compliance officials that they had reclassified a bond the firm was underwriting as a loan, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
Bank loans are subject to government guidelines aimed at curbing excessive risk, while bonds aren’t. Firms that defy regulators risk fines and other sanctions.
Mr. Boland maintained that he had followed the proper reporting procedures and was appealing, the Journal reported.
The Finra panel’s decision came after a review of evidence and testimony related to the matter. “The panel recommends expungement based on the defamatory nature of the information,” its ruling said.
Mr. Boland is “extraordinarily pleased” with the arbitration outcome, said his lawyer, John Singer of Singer Deutsch LLP. Mr. Boland “worked laboriously for UBS for nearly 20 years and was at all times an immensely profitable, devoted, and compliance-oriented senior executive with unflinching integrity,” Mr. Singer said.
Erica Chase, a spokeswoman for UBS, said the Swiss bank “opposed the expungement request and disagrees with the panel’s recommendation.”
Write to Miriam Gottfried at Miriam.Gottfried@wsj.com
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