Monday, December 13, 2010

Business Times report on the court decision on DBS High Notes

The fallout from the global financial crisis that began two years ago in the United States continues to be felt here, as 213 investors failed in their efforts to recoup the $18 million they lost when their DBS High Notes 5 were devastated by the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

The investors' claim that the notes are void due to an inconsistency in a material portion of the agreement was dismissed


The High Court of Singapore on Friday decided, in a judgment released yesterday, against the 21 investors who brought the action against DBS Bank on behalf of 192 other individuals - the first representative action here after the Lehman collapse.


The investors, represented by Siraj Omar and Dipti Jauhar of Premier Law LLC, were asking the courts to declare the DBS High Notes 5 void at the time that they were issued, and for the bank to repay each of the 21 plaintiffs what they had invested and to bear the costs of the legal proceedings.


But Justice Lee Seiu Kin dismissed their claim, some 10 months after the hearing concluded, and will hear both sides on the issue of costs at another time.


Read the full report in the Business Times website after 6 pm.