The sale of CIT InterNotes to individual retail clients resulted from institutional investors growing reluctance to lend to CIT Group Inc. as they became increasingly aware of CIT’s deteriorating financial condition. By selling to individual retail clients, CIT was able to effectively offload risk individual investors.

CIT Group issued these debt instruments and they were marketed by brokerage firms to the general public as low risk and conservative. A key selling point of the CIT InterNotes was the “death put” feature (also known as the “survivor’s option.” This provision allowed the heirs of a bondholder to sell the bond back to the issuer at face value when the bondholder died. However, this “benefit” is contingent upon CIT’s continued financial health which, given CIT’s collapse, may have rendered the death put valueless.

While these investments appealed to many elderly and retired investors (because of the alleged safety and the “survivor’s option”), the investments were not suitable for retired investors and many investors have suffered catastrophic losses.

The sales of the CIT InterNotes by brokerage firms are now under scrutiny by FINRA. Specifically, FINRA is examining the sales practices of brokerage firms who sold CIT Internotes to their customers to determine whether the proper risk disclosures were made.

Various brokerage firms marketed and sold CIT InterNotes to investors including Banc of America, Incapital, Wachovia Securities, Wells Fargo Advisors, Edward Jones, UBS, RBC Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, and Raymond James.

If you have questions regarding CIT InterNote investments you made, or if you believe that you have been the victim of a securities fraud, The White Law Group may be able to help. The White Law Group is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration and investor protection law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida. The firm has over 30 years of experience reviewing securities fraud claims throughout the country. To contact the firm, please call 312-238-9650.

Or, for more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.

J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc. is a FINRA registered broker-dealer based in New York City . J.P. Morgan Securities acquired Bear Stearns in May 2008.

Bear Stearns/J.P. Morgan Securities’ failure to supervise its financial advisors with respect to the sale of hedge fund investments to retail customers is particularly troubling. Hedge funds are only appropriate for high net worth, sophisticated investors. As such, Bear Stearns failure to disclose the risks of these investments to its customers was a compete derogation of its duties to its customers. Also, hedge funds are not regulated in the ways that mutual funds or other investments are. Accordingly, the risk of fraud, unsuitability, etc., is greater with a hedge fund investment than it is with other, more suitable investments, like mutual funds, or bonds.

If you have questions about investments you made with Bearn Stearns or in a hedge fund, or if you believe that you have been the victim of a securities fraud, the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A. may be able to help. The Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A. is a South Florida securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and Chapter 7 bankruptcy law firm based in Boca Raton. David Carter is a securities attorney that reviews securities fraud cases throughout the country and Florida, including securities cases in Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Ocala, Sarasota, Bradenton and West Palm Beach. To contact the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A., please call 561-750-6999, or email us at contact@carterpa.com. For more information about the Law Offices of David A. Carter, P.A., you can also visit our website at www.carterpa.com.