Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Ask for information in writing

Monday, November 24, 2008

Ask for information in writing

Dear Mr. Tan,

I hve invested into Jubilee Series 8 Notes which will mature in 2.5 yrs time in Jan 2011. A fix rate of 3.15% per year is paid. The arranger of the Notes is Merrill Lynch who has since taken over by BOA. The trustee is HSBC Institutional Trust Services (S) Ltd. Currently the value of the Notes is 84% of the purchase price.

I have asked the RM many times but he is also not sure where the money is invested in and whether the Notes will default since more and more bad news are disclosed nowadays. I asked for the prospectus from the RM and took pain to go thru' the 100 pages but just not understand at all. I has no choice but to visit one of the branch and one of the RM verbally told me that it is invested in Merrill Lynch's bond.

I hope you can assist by enlightening me the following:-
a. where the money is invested in?
b. I understand that BOA is taking over Merrill Lynch. Could BOA just take over Merrill Lynch's assets but not its liabilities? If this is possible, then I think most likely the Notes will terminate and worthless.

REPLY
I am at a lost. There are so many series and each series is different from the other series.

I suggest that you should ask the issuer (Merill Lynch) to give you the reply to your questions in writing. If they do not, you should lodge a complaint with MAS.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...: You can ask as much as you like, you wont get the reply you need.

You can complain as many times as you write, you wont get the attention that you want.

The good news is You will get everything else in whatever quantity and quality anytime. Those that you dont need and you don want.

Try it. Please!; November 24, 2008 1:14 PM
Anonymous said...: Please visit http://lioninvestor.com which has a detailed discussin of Jubilee Series 8 Notes.; November 24, 2008 1:46 PM
Anonymous said...: Hi, I am a trader in stock and forex markets. Even up to now, no body know what is inside the product and the value of the product will go down every day. in my view do not hold this type of product and sell back to the FI ASAP (Need to cutloss an get back 84% of your $, do not wait and hope). Thank you; November 24, 2008 2:19 PM
Concerned said...: Since BOA has taken over ML, your Jubilee Series 8 Notes is quiet safe. However, you are still subject to the original risk embedded in the product. In other words, the structure of this product still stands as there is no default. You have to check further whether it is 100% invested in Merrill Lynch. ML probably used the money collected to fund their working capital. If that is the case, when BOA takes over ML, they will also take over the liabilities, except the equities is knocked down. However, if you redeem your product now, you will definately lose some money. Check with Den of the Lion Investor - Jubilee Series Notes 8.; November 24, 2008 4:44 PM
Anonymous said...: Nothing. NOTHING is safe.

And thats the good news if one think about it.

Knowing it, is.; November 24, 2008 5:33 PM
Anonymous said...: Citigroup is now in deep shit. BOA may be next. So be prepared for the worst.

If you want to know more, read this
link:

http://www.futurefastforward.com/component/content/article/388; November 24, 2008 6:39 PM
Concerned said...: Further to my comment earlier, credit conditions for US banks have deteriorated rapidly during the past few days. Citibank almost goes bust, and it has now been bailed out by the US Govt. Nobody can tell which bank is next. Should BOA goes bust and is not bailed out by the Govt, then your investment on Jubilee Notes 8 will be worthless. So you have to keep a watch on the credit conditions in the USA and if you are willing to take some losses maybe you can sell the products. The decision is all yours.; November 25, 2008 12:41 AM
Anonymous said...: "your investment on Jubilee Notes 8 will be worthless."

"if you are willing to take some losses maybe you can sell the products."

"The decision is all yours."

Really, WHEN is the decisions EVER ours; November 25, 2008 5:08 PM