<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Bank won't relent, MAS can't help any more
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to the Forum letter on Friday, "Minibonds: Bank adamant despite MAS advice", by Mr Victor Khoo. I, too, faced the same problem.
I invested $200,000 on a United Overseas Bank (UOB) structured product after the bank's relationship manager persuaded me to switch from a fixed deposit instrument that had matured in July 2007. She said that upon maturity in July last year, I would get back my money in full, but I did not.
At the time, it was difficult for me to reach that manager and while she promised to revert to me, she did not.
I went to the bank's headquarters and between July 4 and 23 last year, had interviews with various bank officers from Privilege Banking, Customer Care Management, Customer Advocacy and Service Quality.
I, too, felt that the interviews were more about the officers trying to justify their actions and to highlight my risk profile to validate their sale. It seemed as if the meetings were only in compliance with the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) regulation.
On Sept 30 last year, I received a rejection letter from the vice-president of Customer Care Management. I sought help from the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (Fidrec) and was told that the adjudication limit was $50,000, unless both parties agreed to let Fidrec handle the case for amounts above that limit. Of course, I agreed, but not the financial institution.
I sought help from my MPs Hri Kumar and Wong Kan Seng. They helped me to write to MAS, asking MAS to persuade UOB to allow Fidrec to handle the case for the full amount of $200,000. But I was informed by MAS that it was in no position to ask the bank to agree and that it would forward the MPs' letter to the financial institution instead.
In the end, I was rejected by the vice-president of Customer Care Management again.
What other recourse is there for us other than legal redress? Serene Lim (Ms)
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to the Forum letter on Friday, "Minibonds: Bank adamant despite MAS advice", by Mr Victor Khoo. I, too, faced the same problem.
I invested $200,000 on a United Overseas Bank (UOB) structured product after the bank's relationship manager persuaded me to switch from a fixed deposit instrument that had matured in July 2007. She said that upon maturity in July last year, I would get back my money in full, but I did not.
At the time, it was difficult for me to reach that manager and while she promised to revert to me, she did not.
I went to the bank's headquarters and between July 4 and 23 last year, had interviews with various bank officers from Privilege Banking, Customer Care Management, Customer Advocacy and Service Quality.
I, too, felt that the interviews were more about the officers trying to justify their actions and to highlight my risk profile to validate their sale. It seemed as if the meetings were only in compliance with the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) regulation.
On Sept 30 last year, I received a rejection letter from the vice-president of Customer Care Management. I sought help from the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (Fidrec) and was told that the adjudication limit was $50,000, unless both parties agreed to let Fidrec handle the case for amounts above that limit. Of course, I agreed, but not the financial institution.
I sought help from my MPs Hri Kumar and Wong Kan Seng. They helped me to write to MAS, asking MAS to persuade UOB to allow Fidrec to handle the case for the full amount of $200,000. But I was informed by MAS that it was in no position to ask the bank to agree and that it would forward the MPs' letter to the financial institution instead.
In the end, I was rejected by the vice-president of Customer Care Management again.
What other recourse is there for us other than legal redress? Serene Lim (Ms)
