Den of The Lion Investor

Question

Ms Sylvia Lim: To ask the Senior Minister (a) whether structured notes similar to Lehman Brothers products were sold to small retail investors in the United States and in the same manner as in Singapore through bank branches; (b) if so, how disgruntled investors are being handled by the American Federal Reserve, compared to Singapore; and (c) if not, why such products were allowed for sale to small retail investors in Singapore in such a manner.

Mr Siew Kum Hong: To ask the Senior Minister (a) if he will provide an update on the progress of investigations by MAS into alleged mis-selling by financial institutions and the progress of the review of the marketing and sale of structured products; and (b) whether MAS is satisfied with the progress of the financial institutions in resolving customers’ complaints.

Main points of reply from Finance Minister, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam:

• It is conducting formal inquiries into the financial institutions and will take firm and appropriate regulatory actions where there are breaches of law or regulations.
• It is doing a review of its current regulatory regime. Care will be taken not to come up with overly prescription rules.
• Other than regulation, all stakeholders have a share to play. CEOs of all the financial institutions have been told to review their sales process.
• MAS has been following up with the financial institutions to ensure they are handling all complaints. All cases will be dealt with fairly, regardless of whether they fall into the vulnerable group or not, as long as there is mis-selling.
• Similar structured products have also been sold in other countries, including the UK, Australia, Germany, France, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Reports indicate that some investors have approached lawyers to look into pursuing arbitration claims with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
• In Singapore, a 3-step dispute resolution process has been set up.

To read the entire reply, you can refer to this news release on the MAS website.

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Societe Generale’s wholly owned subsidiary Lyxor Asset Management, has listed five new Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) on SGX recently. These ETFs track the performance of four Asian equity and one commodity-linked fund:

• MSCI Thailand
• MSCI Malaysia
• MSCI India
• MSCI Asia APEX 50 (an index made up of 50 stocks in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan)
• Reuters Jeffries CRB Non Energy

This brings the total number of ETFs listed in Singapore to 24.

For a primer on ETFs, you can visit this ETF investor’s guide page on the SGX website.

I’m posting this on behalf of the UOB Kay Hian Investors Group

Invitation to investors who bought structured products from UOB Kay Hian

We would like to invite investors who invested structured products (Pinnacle Notes, Minibonds, Jubilee, etc) through UOB Kay Hian to join our contact group.

Many of us have a frustrating experience with UOB Kay Hian individually and we believe we can engage UOB Kay Hian more effectively as a group.

Please send us an email at uobkh.group@gmail.com, indicating your full name, email and phone contacts and type of products bought. Thank you.

Regards,
UOB Kay Hian Investors Group

Video recordings of the speech by Tan Kin Lian on the structured products issue

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Interview with Tan Kin Lian

Morgan Stanley have officially announced today that a mandatory redemption event of Pinnacle Notes 9 and 10 has occured. Unfortunately, investors will be getting back nothing. 

Morgan Stanley have published a FAQ on this event that occured to series 9 and 10.

They have also uploaded information on all the different Pinnacle series at their website:

Morgan Stanley Pinnacle Notes Website

MAS has provided some advice to investors who would like to file a complaint:

MAS on Pinnacle Notes

If you are a Pinnacle Notes investor and would like to talk to the press (can be anonymous), please  contact me with your contact details.

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