Purpose of Petition

A journalist asked,

"Mr. Tan, MAS is already setting up a mechanism to handle the complaints of the investors. They can approach an independent body appointed by the financial institution. Why is it still necessary to organise the Petition? How is the Petition different?"

My reply is:
I encourage the investors to file their complaint of mis-selling to the financial institution. I have given them a template on the key points to be contained in their complaint. Most of them have not been properly advised and have been recommended a product that is not suitable for their risk profile.

It is important for the investors to pursue this step, as recommended by MAS.

The purpose of the Petition is to ask the Government to make an independent investigation to examine if there were negligent or dishonest acts by the financial institutions or if there were any wrong-doing. This is necessary as several thousand people are affected by this situation and have lost their life savings.

If there were wrong doing, it is better for some guidelines to be agreed on how the compensation is to be determined.

I believe that the Petition is a separate step and is still necessary, in the light of the circumstances. We need to approach this matter on two prongs.