It purchased over $18 billion of auction rate securities from more than 32,000 customer accounts, and made restitution to others.  With that, UBS completed the obligations under its ARS settlement with the SEC.

Under the settlement, UBS was required to offer to purchase ARS at par from its individual, charitable, small business and institutional customers.  It took over $18bn to purchase from customers' the ARS positions that had not already been liquidated through issuer redemptions.  UBS also compensated investors who had sold their ARS holdings at a loss - i.e., below par - reimbursing them for excess interest costs associated with loans taken out due to ARS illiquidity, and participating in special FINRA arbitration proceedings.  UBS also submitted periodic reports to, and met quarterly with, SEC staff regarding its progress in meeting its settlement obligations.

Of the 8 broker-dealer firms that entered into ARS settlements with the SEC, only UBS and Wachovia agreed to purchase ARS held not only by retail and small business customers, but by institutional customers as well.  The UBS settlement provided for a potential deferred penalty if the firm did not meet its settlement obligations - no penalties will be pursued.  All told, over $67 billion has been returned to ARS customers of the 8 firms that settled. [SEC Litigation Rel. 21658, 9/21]