Corporate & Securities Law

UBS' Sale Of Structured Notes Promising Protection Of Principal Falls Far Short; Investors Must Be On Guard

By James Eccleston

In a market that has witnessed sales of so-called ?structured notes? quadruple in the last four years, no firm is closer to the eye of a major storm than UBS.  That's because UBS has sold about $1 billion of these "100 percent principal protected notes" in the United States, only to see their value plummet to 10 to 15 cents on the dollar through secondary market trading.  In response, UBS clients have filed complaints and state securities regulators have formed a task force to investigate UBS' sale of those products.  Let's examine what went wrong at UBS, and how investors - with accounts at any financial services firm and with all types of structured products - can protect themselves.

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Full post as published by FinancialCounsel on January 07, 2009 (boomark / email).