- Joined
- Jul 24, 2008
- Messages
- 33,627
- Points
- 0
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>High Notes 5 investors exploring legal recourse
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Francis Chan
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->ABOUT 200 investors who lost cash on DBS High Notes 5 are weighing the legal actions available to them after the bank rejected their compensation appeals.
They met last night in a lecture room at PSB Academy's Campus@Delta to learn about their legal options.
Most were retirees, or in their early 50s, although there were also a significant number under 45 years of age.
A lawyer, who asked not to be identified, told The Straits Times he was there to help the investors 'explore their options', and that his firm was not officially 'on board just yet'.
Although he did not elaborate on the legal options tabled at the meeting, 50-year-old investor Ng T.M. said he and the other attendees were hoping to make a valid claim that they were 'mis-sold'.
'I am not going to let the matter rest. This is my money, which I still feel the bank misled me into investing,' said Mr Ng, who invested $150,000 in the notes.
However, lawyers say that such claims are difficult to prove in court.
'In such cases, investors will need to relate to their lawyers what exactly they were told and what information they relied on before deciding to invest,' said the lawyer who attended the meeting.
'But one hurdle such investors will invariably face is one of proof. A lot of times, information is verbally related by the sales staff, and this often results in situations where it is an investor's word against that of the banker or sales staff.'
The closed-door meeting was organised by the High Notes Investors Group.
Separately, a 250-strong group of Lehman Minibond investors is also considering taking legal action against Maybank and Hong Leong Finance, which sold them the product.
They are said to be gathering more investors to build a case against the two institutions, and legal action may commence as early as April.
Ten financial institutions in Singapore were involved in the structured products fiasco that was triggered by the collapse of United States investment bank Lehman Brothers on Sept 15 last year.
The institutions sold over $660 million worth of Lehman-linked structured products, including DBS High Notes 5, Lehman Minibonds and Merrill Lynch Jubilee Series 3 LinkEarner Notes, to more than 10,000 investors. More than 1,400 retail investors bought $103 million worth of DBS High Notes 5, with more than half investing $50,000 or less.
[email protected]
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Francis Chan
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->ABOUT 200 investors who lost cash on DBS High Notes 5 are weighing the legal actions available to them after the bank rejected their compensation appeals.
They met last night in a lecture room at PSB Academy's Campus@Delta to learn about their legal options.
Most were retirees, or in their early 50s, although there were also a significant number under 45 years of age.
A lawyer, who asked not to be identified, told The Straits Times he was there to help the investors 'explore their options', and that his firm was not officially 'on board just yet'.
Although he did not elaborate on the legal options tabled at the meeting, 50-year-old investor Ng T.M. said he and the other attendees were hoping to make a valid claim that they were 'mis-sold'.
'I am not going to let the matter rest. This is my money, which I still feel the bank misled me into investing,' said Mr Ng, who invested $150,000 in the notes.
However, lawyers say that such claims are difficult to prove in court.
'In such cases, investors will need to relate to their lawyers what exactly they were told and what information they relied on before deciding to invest,' said the lawyer who attended the meeting.
'But one hurdle such investors will invariably face is one of proof. A lot of times, information is verbally related by the sales staff, and this often results in situations where it is an investor's word against that of the banker or sales staff.'
The closed-door meeting was organised by the High Notes Investors Group.
Separately, a 250-strong group of Lehman Minibond investors is also considering taking legal action against Maybank and Hong Leong Finance, which sold them the product.
They are said to be gathering more investors to build a case against the two institutions, and legal action may commence as early as April.
Ten financial institutions in Singapore were involved in the structured products fiasco that was triggered by the collapse of United States investment bank Lehman Brothers on Sept 15 last year.
The institutions sold over $660 million worth of Lehman-linked structured products, including DBS High Notes 5, Lehman Minibonds and Merrill Lynch Jubilee Series 3 LinkEarner Notes, to more than 10,000 investors. More than 1,400 retail investors bought $103 million worth of DBS High Notes 5, with more than half investing $50,000 or less.
[email protected]
