Ex-Treasury Official Involved in UBS Probe

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo recently filed a civil complaint against UBS AG and former Treasury Department official, David Aufhauser, is at the center of it.

David Aufhauser, a general counsel for the Swiss firm’s investment-banking arm, is the described in Cuomo’s case against UBS as “Executive A,” according to The Wall Street Journal. The complaint, filed last week, claims that he and six other UBS executive sold $21 million of their personal holdings in auction-rate securities in the months leading up to the market’s collapse.

Aufhauser has not been officially named by Cuomo or charged with any wrongdoing. Aufhauser has since bough some of the securities back, according to WSJ. Aufhauser was general counsel to the Treasury Department during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He became well-known for his efforts in cutting off funding to al Qaeda.

An email from a UBS chief risk officer has surfaced. "Watch our competitors closely; if they stop supporting auctions, we have much better freedom to stop [supporting auctions]," the email said, according to WSJ.

Executive A (Aufhauser) was among the recipients of the email. Executive A then wrote to his personal financial adviser saying, “I want to get out of arcs. Let's talk on Monday,” according to WSJ.