Hong Kong: Legislators to lift lid on minibond probe secrets

Legislators plan to defy the Hong Kong Monetary Authority by making public portions of an investigation report into the Lehman Brothers minibonds saga that the de facto central bank wants to keep confidential.

Raymond Ho Chung-tai, chairman of the subcommittee probing the minibonds saga, said legislators will use the confidential portions of the report for discussion at public hearings.

A source says the among details the HKMA wants to keep confidential is the finding that around 50 percent of the 238 complainants are people who traditionally have a lesser appetite for risk – the elderly and those who are not well educated.

The next subcommittee hearing on Tuesday is expected to be a fiery meeting because legislators are expected to make some of the confidential findings public in the presence of HKMA chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking_news_detail.asp?id=13921&icid=1&d_str=20090424