Steepeners/CDs - Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce

Recover Your Steepener Investment Losses!

Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. is investigating and representing investors nationwide that were sold steepeners, which are notes or CDs that pay varying levels of interest depending on the steepness or flatness of the yield curve. When the yield curve flattened in 2018, these steepeners rapidly declined in value and either stopped paying interest or paid much less interest. In 2019, the yield curve inverted and short term interest rates rose to a higher level than long term interest rates. This yield curve inversion caused even more losses. The negative impact on investors in the following types of structured products has been significant: Structured CDs, Market-Linked CDs, Leverage Callable CMS Curve Linked Notes, Callable Quarterly CMS Spread-Linked Notes, Callable Variable Rate Range Accrual CDs, Callable Interest Rate Spread CDs, Callable CMS Spread Notes, and Senior Callable CMS Steepener Notes.

Oct 23, 2017

Trident Partners Fined by FINRA for Failure to Supervise Steepener Sales

Trident Partners Ltd. has submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) in which it has been censured and fined $50,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for failing to adequately supervise the sales and suitability of steepeners, a complex, structured product. Trident Partners, headquartered in Woodbury, New York, was found by FINRA to have failed to establish, maintain, and enforce a supervisory system to ensure that recommendations for its sale of steepeners were suitable. Steepeners are complex, structured products that are typically longer-term notes and certificates of deposit with maturities spanning from 10-30 years. They are typically callable by the issuers after a short, pre-specified time. They pay higher interest rates, but if the steepener is not called after a year, the rates can drop to as low as zero, earning no returns for the remainder of the term. FINRA found that during the relevant period, steepeners were a significant part of Trident Partners’ business, with approximately 1,600 transactions and accounting for at least 10% of commissions generated.