Thursday, October 23, 2008

Treat all investors fairly

Dear Mr. Tan,
I appreciate the good work you have done todate.

It is wrong to give priority to the so-called vulnerable group because this implies that the vulnerable group has a Right for full compensation whilst those outside it do not have such a Right. You can somehow discern that the FIs are driving in that directions.

If the aim of giving priority to the vulnerable group is to prevent immediate financial hardship because he or she needs immediate cash as otherwise he or she has to seek government help, then that is understandable. I believe those elderly investors' fund were not "daily expense savings".

In such a case, then education and knowing the English language is NOT a criteria to be used to define the vulnerable group. We therefore need MAS to state that education is not a criteria. Mis-selling (as defined in the ST today) is mis-selling. It has nothing to do with the educational level of the investor.

Albert Tan
tan4tell@yahoo.com