Click for entire articleOver the past few years, brokerage firms and banks have been issuing and marketing complex investments known in the industry as “structured products” to individual investors. These include “reverse convertibles,” which are well loved in part because of the high yields they offer.Also known as “revertible notes” or “reverse exchangeable securities”—and sold under a variety of proprietary names that may or may not use the term “structured” to describe the product—reverse convertibles are debt obligations of the issuer that are tied to the performance of an unrelated security or basket of securities.
Posts Tagged ‘Debt Instruments’
Reverse Convertibles—Complex Investment Vehicles
March 11th, 2010 
Before You Invest 
Posted in Finance Fraud 
Tags: Assets, Banks, Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Debt Instrument, Debt Instruments, Debt Obligations, Elements, Financial Instruments, Fixed Income Products, Individual Investors, Inflation Risk, Investment Professionals, Investment Vehicles, Investments, Proprietary Names, Reverse Convertibles, Stocks, Structured Product, Structured Products 
Comments OffRegulators Attempting to Derail Stifel in Colorado
October 2nd, 2009 Before You Invest On Thursday October 1st, 2009, Colorado state securities regulators filed a complaint against Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. seeking to strip or suspend that company’s state security license. This action is being taken in connection with Stifel’s sale of securities products known as auction-rate securities (ARS).
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Auction Rate, Cash Alternatives, Colorado State, Current Situation, Debt Instruments, Economic Climate, Investment Banks, Liquid Cash, Liquid Investments, Remedy, Retail Investors, Retail Supply, Risk, Securities Products, Security License, State Regulators, State Securities Regulators, State Security, Stifel Nicolaus No Comments »TD Ameritrade Agrees To Repurchase ARS From Customers
July 27th, 2009 Before You Invest TD Ameritrade Inc. agreed to buy back $456 million of auction-rate securities from about 4,000 clients as part of a settlement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Pennsylvania securities regulators.The online brokerage firm intends to return the money to customers, including individuals, charities, nonprofit entities and businesses, by March 2010 but could need until June 30 to complete the buybacks. TD Ameritrade said it will buy back the debt from clients with accounts of under $250,000 within 75 days.Auction-rate securities, small-term debt instruments whose prices reset in periodic auctions, caused billions of dollars in losses for investors after the $330 billion market collapsed in early 2008.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Ameritrade, Ars, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Auction Rate, Billions Of Dollars, Buybacks, Charities, Debt Instruments, Investors, Losses, New York Attorney General, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Nonprofit Entities, Online Brokerage Firm, Pennsylvania Securities, Periodic Auctions, Securities And Exchange, Securities And Exchange Commission, Term Debt, York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo No Comments »
