Structured Products We Handle
Market-Linked CDs
They look like FDIC-insured CDs, but only the principal is insured — the equity-linked returns are not. Sold to investors expecting CD-like safety.
What it is
A market-linked CD (also called a structured or equity-linked CD) is a certificate of deposit whose return is tied to the performance of an equity index or basket rather than a fixed rate. The deposited principal is generally FDIC-insured up to applicable limits. The returns, however, are not — they depend on market performance and on a web of caps, participation rates, and averaging formulas that can leave the investor with little or no return.
How it's sold
The 'CD' label and FDIC reference do a great deal of reassurance, and these are routinely sold to conservative savers who want CD-like safety with a little more upside. What is often underexplained: the long lock-up periods, steep penalties or losses for early withdrawal, the caps that limit upside, and the real possibility of earning zero over the term.
What goes wrong
Investors frequently discover that they have tied up money for five, seven, or more years in an illiquid instrument that returned far less than a plain CD would have — sometimes nothing — while believing they held something as safe and simple as a bank CD. Early exits can produce losses on what investors thought was 'insured' money, because the insurance covers held-to-maturity principal, not market value or returns.
What a claim might look like
Claims focus on the mismatch between the 'CD' presentation and the equity-linked, illiquid reality — particularly when sold to conservative investors who specified safety and access to their money. Misrepresentation of the FDIC protection's scope, failure to disclose illiquidity and caps, and unsuitability are recurring themes.
Other Structured Products We Handle
Auto-Callable Notes
High coupons that look like income — until the note is called early and your upside is capped while your downside isn't.
Learn moreWorst-Of Notes
Your return depends on the worst performer of several assets — marketed as diversification, but it's the opposite. FINRA is reviewing these in 2026.
Learn morePrincipal-Protected Notes
'Protected' only at maturity, and only if the issuing bank stays solvent. The 2023 Credit Suisse wipeout showed what 'protected' can really mean.
Learn moreReverse Convertibles
A high coupon that can pay you back in depreciated stock instead of cash — effectively a sold put option dressed up as a bond.
Learn moreSteepeners
Interest tied to the spread between long- and short-term rates. When the yield curve flattened and inverted, these got crushed.
Learn more
Talk to a structured products attorney — for free
Find out whether you have a claim in a free, confidential case evaluation. There is no obligation, and you pay no attorneys' fees unless we recover for you.*