<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published October 2, 2009
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Oei Hong Leong settles suit with Citi
Tycoon had sued bank over $1b in forex trading losses
By MICHELLE QUAH
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(SINGAPORE) Business tycoon Oei Hong Leong has settled his multi-million-dollar lawsuit with Citigroup 'amicably' and says he will continue to work with the bank again.
The terms of the settlement are confidential, but Mr Oei told BT that he was 'satisfied and quite happy' with the settlement.
'My lawyer (Quek Mong Hua of Lee & Lee) has been working very hard on this - so, now, I want him to go on a well-deserved holiday,' Mr Oei quipped.
Citigroup issued a statement yesterday evening, which confirmed it had reached an 'amicable settlement' with Mr Oei.
The settlement effectively closes what might have been one of the most- watched lawsuits in the next year or so - given the prominence of the parties and the sums involved.
Mr Oei - arguably one of Singapore's most well- known investors - had sued Citi's private banking arm in May, claiming he lost S$1 billion in 2008 because the bank gave him 'inaccurate and misleading' information on his trading exposure.
He claimed the bank provided him with conflicting reports on his margin exposure, which led him to close his positions on foreign exchange trades in late October - at the height of the global financial crisis - and resulted in significant losses.
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Citi had said it would defend its position 'vigorously' and, in documents filed with the court, had hit back at Mr Oei's claims, saying it was not his financial adviser, nor could it be responsible for losses racked up by such a highly sophisticated investor making his own investment decisions.
In his reply filed with the court, Mr Oei had said this was irrelevant as he was not disputing that he is a highly experienced investor.
Instead, he was arguing that he had depended on Citi to provide him with accurate and reliable information about his margin positions to aid him in his trading decisions.
Mr Oei had claimed that his margin shortfall figures supplied by Citi ranged from US$28 million to US$348 million over a couple of days. He alleged it was this unreliability that left him with no choice but to liquidate his positions at that inopportune time.
Citi's defence had been that the margin figures were calculated only for Citi and not for Mr Oei's purposes. Citi said the figures were estimates for discussion purposes only.
But Mr Oei had retorted that such an argument 'is not in line with common and commercial sense'.
He had said that, if the bank had told him that 'the information it was giving him was unreliable and that he could not regard it as even reasonably accurate, he would have terminated their business relationship'.
This case had turned the spotlight on private banking - being seen as a lightning rod for a number of other lawsuits being filed by the wealthy against private banks, in the midst of the current crisis.
High net-worth individuals from Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore have lost millions since the start of the credit crunch and are looking to recoup some of their losses via legal action.
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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Oei Hong Leong settles suit with Citi
Tycoon had sued bank over $1b in forex trading losses
By MICHELLE QUAH
<TABLE class=storyLinks border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Email this article</TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
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</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>(SINGAPORE) Business tycoon Oei Hong Leong has settled his multi-million-dollar lawsuit with Citigroup 'amicably' and says he will continue to work with the bank again.
The terms of the settlement are confidential, but Mr Oei told BT that he was 'satisfied and quite happy' with the settlement.
'My lawyer (Quek Mong Hua of Lee & Lee) has been working very hard on this - so, now, I want him to go on a well-deserved holiday,' Mr Oei quipped.
Citigroup issued a statement yesterday evening, which confirmed it had reached an 'amicable settlement' with Mr Oei.
The settlement effectively closes what might have been one of the most- watched lawsuits in the next year or so - given the prominence of the parties and the sums involved.
Mr Oei - arguably one of Singapore's most well- known investors - had sued Citi's private banking arm in May, claiming he lost S$1 billion in 2008 because the bank gave him 'inaccurate and misleading' information on his trading exposure.
He claimed the bank provided him with conflicting reports on his margin exposure, which led him to close his positions on foreign exchange trades in late October - at the height of the global financial crisis - and resulted in significant losses.
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In his reply filed with the court, Mr Oei had said this was irrelevant as he was not disputing that he is a highly experienced investor.
Instead, he was arguing that he had depended on Citi to provide him with accurate and reliable information about his margin positions to aid him in his trading decisions.
Mr Oei had claimed that his margin shortfall figures supplied by Citi ranged from US$28 million to US$348 million over a couple of days. He alleged it was this unreliability that left him with no choice but to liquidate his positions at that inopportune time.
Citi's defence had been that the margin figures were calculated only for Citi and not for Mr Oei's purposes. Citi said the figures were estimates for discussion purposes only.
But Mr Oei had retorted that such an argument 'is not in line with common and commercial sense'.
He had said that, if the bank had told him that 'the information it was giving him was unreliable and that he could not regard it as even reasonably accurate, he would have terminated their business relationship'.
This case had turned the spotlight on private banking - being seen as a lightning rod for a number of other lawsuits being filed by the wealthy against private banks, in the midst of the current crisis.
High net-worth individuals from Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore have lost millions since the start of the credit crunch and are looking to recoup some of their losses via legal action.
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