SEC fines 13 firms over sale of Puerto Rican junk bonds

Washington

UNITS of 13 major Wall Street firms, including JPMorgan and UBS, improperly sold bonds from Puerto Rico's landmark March junk deal to retail investors who may not have understood the debt's riskiness, the US Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday.

The firms will pay penalties ranging from US$54,000 to US$130,000, without admitting or denying the regulator's charges that they violated a new rule on minimum denominations for municipal bond sales.