HK Monetary Authority refers 40 more 'mini-bonds' cases to SFC

Saturday, 25 October 2008

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said yesterday it had referred to the Securities and Futures Commission 40 more cases of alleged mis-selling of Lehman Brothers-backed financial products by banks.

"The 40 cases, which are the second batch of Lehman-Brothers-related cases referred in this way, involved alleged misconduct by two licensed banks in Hong Kong," the city's de-facto central bank said in a statement.

It said one of the banks in question was also involved in the first batch of 24 cases it referred on October 17.

Up to Thursday, the authority said it had received 16,301 complaints by investors who said their banks had sold them "mini-bonds" backed by the collapsed US giant without having fully explained to them the risks involved.

Apart from the 64 referrals to the SFC, the authority said it had opened investigations on 285 complaints and was seeking further information on 1,942 complaints.

In light of the large number of complaints, the authority said it would have to streamline the investigation process by identifying groups of cases with common features in making referrals to the SFC.

The Hong Kong Association of Banks said in a statement Friday that individual banks had since earlier this week started the process of settling with relevant investors, particularly elderly customers with no investment experience.

The association said its special task force will be in close liaison with the Monetary Authority to explore a mediation mechanism between the banks and their investors.

Thousands of investors have held protests across the territory in the past few weeks claiming the banks mis-sold the mini-bonds as risk-free investments, and lured vulnerable citizens into using up their life-savings.

Although the banks agreed last week to adopt a government proposal for them to buy back the products from customers at their current market value, the move failed to pacify investors who said they would get back a portion of their investment.

The mini-bonds are complex financial products linked to a bundle of derivatives backed by Lehman, and their value plummeted after the investment bank collapsed in September.

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