Bank staff do not understand financial products

Hi Mr Tan,

I used to be an institutional dealer(equities,bonds & futures) for two local banks but quit many years back because I was very disillusioned with what I was seeing everyday.

Personally, I feel that the local banks (can't comment on the foreign ones) are not out to misrepresent and/or mis-sell their credit link products to retail investors. I think the bank sales people simply do not have the training & background/experience to understand their derivatives themselves.

Perhaps, some incidental encounters of mine would be illuminating.
I am a very conservative investor.
I've only invested in Singapore government bonds (SGS), local bank preference shares & a small portion of my portfolio in REITs.
I regularly purchase SGS through 2 local banks but every time I make a purchase, I have to "teach" the bank's sale staff how to calculate accrued interest (ie. buyer must compensate the seller daily interest earned), help them identify which is the correct SGS series and other matters related to filling up the purchase/sales forms!

It really makes me wonder, if they cannot handle something as simple & direct as Singapore government bonds, then what of more complex derivatives ?