The Standard:BOC set to seal minibond dea

Bank of China (Hong Kong) (2388), the city's largest distributor of minibonds linked to failed US investment bank Lehman Brothers, is in advanced negotiations with the Securities and Futures Commission to settle the issue, market sources told The Standard.

A settlement may involve payment of about HK$600 million to the bank's disgruntled minibond buyers.

It would also serve as a benchmark for talks between the SFC and other banks to wipe off their respective minibond exposures, the sources said.

The reports come as thousands of minibond buyers prepare to rally on July 1.

BOC (Hong Kong) is estimated to have sold HK$5.6 billion out of HK$14 billion worth of Lehman minibonds bought by 48,000 local investors.

So far, only two institutions - SHKI, a unit of Sun Hung Kai & Co (0086) and KGI Asia Ltd - have settled their minibonds claims.

SHKI distributed payments of HK$85 million among 310 clients while KGI Asia paid five customers about HK$1.6 million.

The talks with SHKI are being used as a model by the SFC for current negotiation with BOC (Hong Kong), sources said.

They said the authorities are keen to settle with BOC (Hong Kong) ahead of July 1 so as not to have angry minibond investors join traditional rallies.

The organizer, Alliance of Lehman Brothers' Victims, yesterday estimated that up to 100,000 of its supporters will march on July 1.

About 400 to 500 investors will protest today against the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the SFC outside the Legislative Council as HKMA chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong attends a subcommittee hearing on the issue, the group said. Another 2,000 investors plan to march on Sunday from Causeway Bay to the SAR government headquarters.

Earlier this month, the HKMA said it had found sufficient grounds for disciplinary action against some bank staff accused of mis-selling minibonds.

Even though some investors have settled with banks, they only recovered 30 to 50 percent of their investment, the group's chairman, Peter Chan Kwong-yue, said.

Democratic Party member Andrew Fung Wai-kwong said he will file a judicial review for 11 cases before the end of the month against a Small Claims Tribunal decision on March 23 that resulted in all 135 cases being transferred to the District Court.

As of April 8, the HKMA had received 20,724 complaints, and 20,509 had cleared initial assessment.

Only 418 complaints relating to 16 banks were referred to the SFC.

As of last Wednesday, a total of 427 cases had been transferred to the SFC by the monetary authority.

Meanwhile, Liu Sui-fong, 84, is among 77 minibond investors seeking help from the Federation of Trade Unions. Liu said she had been ``misled'' by BOC (Hong Kong) staff to invest all her HK$520,000 savings in minibonds, which claimed to yield 4 percent interest a year.