"New Hampshire securities regulators on Thursday accused banking giant UBS of defrauding the state's leading issuer of student loans," the Associated Press reports. "In a civil complaint, the Bureau of Securities Regulation said that while UBS Securities LLC was steering bigger clients out of the auction-rate securities market last winter because of signs the market would collapse, it was advising the New Hampshire Higher Education Loan Corp. to stay in. UBS denied defrauding anyone. The regulators seek unspecified fines and restitution and a halt to the alleged misconduct. They said a hearing examiner will be appointed for proceedings that could easily take months. But with college classes about to start, bureau Director Mark Connolly said UBS and other big banks should act on their own to shore up the lending capacity of programs such as NHHELCO. He said student loan issuers and borrowers in other states are in similar jams."