Sunday, April 26, 2009
UK: Banks face fine for poor service
I hope that MAS will implement similar measures in Singapore. Read this.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
China Daily: Secret Lehman report to be aired
HONG KONG: The Legislative Council (LegCo) subcommittee inquiring into the Lehman Brothers minibonds saga Friday decided to ignore the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) request to keep parts of the authority's report confidential.
Subcommittee chairman Raymond Ho Chung-tai told reporters after a meeting Friday that the subcommittee disagreed with HKMA chief Joseph Yam's argument that disclosing the portion would violate public interest, the Banking Ordinance, and affect the authority's investigation.
"The chapter six (the portion in question) of the report is not targeting at any individual bank and person. It only contains some general information," he said. "We believe that disclosing the information will help the investigation. The disclosure will only create positive impact, but not negative ones. It is more appropriate to disclose."
It is expected that the concerned portion is related to the problems observed by the HKMA in 238 cases.
The problems can be classified into five categories. Half of the cases are related to the sales of the products to elderly, persons with low education, or those who invested excessively in the products. Some of the cases involved inaccurate assessment of clients' capability to bear risk, others concern lack of signatures on documents.
But the HKMA has not reached any conclusion on these cases, and the Securities and Futures Commission is still following up.
The LegCo subcommittee will have an open hearing Tuesday, which will have Yam continue his testimony.
Kam Nai-wai, a subcommittee member, said a special meeting will be held should the HKMA launch a judicial review against the disclosure.
He said disclosing the information will help investors who may have been victimized by unethical sales practices, to settle with banks.
"The public will know what the HKMA has found over the past months concerning the sales practices of banks. The public and the victims of the saga will know what constitutes bad sales practice, and know what practices are adopted by the banks," he said. "This helps us find out the truth."
Chan Kwong-yue, spokesman for the Alliance of Lehman Brothers Victims, supported disclosing the report.
"We will know more about the structural bad sales practices of banks," he said. "We will then know what kind of bad practices are recognized by the HKMA."
But Hong Kong Association of Banks chairman Peter Wong had reservations about disclosing the information.
"Clients' personal information may be contained in the report. This will affect Hong Kong's role as an international financial center because clients will not do business in Hong Kong if their information is at risk of being leaked," he said. "At this stage, we cannot see how the disclosure will help the tackling of the incident."
A spokesman of HKMA declined to comment.
Subcommittee chairman Raymond Ho Chung-tai told reporters after a meeting Friday that the subcommittee disagreed with HKMA chief Joseph Yam's argument that disclosing the portion would violate public interest, the Banking Ordinance, and affect the authority's investigation.
"The chapter six (the portion in question) of the report is not targeting at any individual bank and person. It only contains some general information," he said. "We believe that disclosing the information will help the investigation. The disclosure will only create positive impact, but not negative ones. It is more appropriate to disclose."
It is expected that the concerned portion is related to the problems observed by the HKMA in 238 cases.
The problems can be classified into five categories. Half of the cases are related to the sales of the products to elderly, persons with low education, or those who invested excessively in the products. Some of the cases involved inaccurate assessment of clients' capability to bear risk, others concern lack of signatures on documents.
But the HKMA has not reached any conclusion on these cases, and the Securities and Futures Commission is still following up.
The LegCo subcommittee will have an open hearing Tuesday, which will have Yam continue his testimony.
Kam Nai-wai, a subcommittee member, said a special meeting will be held should the HKMA launch a judicial review against the disclosure.
He said disclosing the information will help investors who may have been victimized by unethical sales practices, to settle with banks.
"The public will know what the HKMA has found over the past months concerning the sales practices of banks. The public and the victims of the saga will know what constitutes bad sales practice, and know what practices are adopted by the banks," he said. "This helps us find out the truth."
Chan Kwong-yue, spokesman for the Alliance of Lehman Brothers Victims, supported disclosing the report.
"We will know more about the structural bad sales practices of banks," he said. "We will then know what kind of bad practices are recognized by the HKMA."
But Hong Kong Association of Banks chairman Peter Wong had reservations about disclosing the information.
"Clients' personal information may be contained in the report. This will affect Hong Kong's role as an international financial center because clients will not do business in Hong Kong if their information is at risk of being leaked," he said. "At this stage, we cannot see how the disclosure will help the tackling of the incident."
A spokesman of HKMA declined to comment.
Survey: Job satisfaction of Singaporeans
Friday, April 24, 2009
Get a better return from CPF retirement account
Mr Tan,I bought the annuity in 2002 with my CPF. At that time I have faith in the Company. Today if I wish to surrender, they will pay me $X ( after about 6.5yrs ) And if I were to continue with the annuity policy, I will get about $Y p.m.I have substantial savings and have not make any withdrawal from my CPF. I have been following the development and I do not expect INCOME to pay any attractive yearly bonus.I am not sure is it better off if I had not take up this annuity and leave this sum in my CPF retirement account which many of my colleagues had done. I am prepared to keep the sum in my CPF. I am still working and no financial problem. Pls advise whether I should surrender the policy..REPLYIt is better to terminate the annuity and put the money back into the CPF special account. The surrender value that you get now represents a return of 3.9% p.a. for the last 6.5 years. It is slightly lower than the 4% given by CPF on the special account, but the loss is slight and can be ignored. It is better to look forward and get (hopefully) a better return from the CPF in the future. All the best!
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
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/
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