Singapore Police warn against protest at DBS
By Francis Chan
THE police have advised a group of investors of DBS High Notes 5 to call off their planned protest outside the bank’s Shenton Way headquarters tomorrow.
In a statement last night, the police said: ‘Members of public who want to assemble in a public place to air their grievances are advised to do so in a lawful manner.
‘They can use the Speakers’ Corner… or make an application for an assembly permit in an indoor venue.’
They also said that any demonstration in a public place without approval ‘may be deemed to be an illegal assembly’.
Organisers of Wednesday’s demonstration told The Straits Times that they may now not continue with the protest in the light of the police advisory.
Investors of DBS High Notes 5, which have been virtually rendered worthless with the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers four weeks ago, had planned to protest at DBS.
They claim they had been misled into buying the investment products.
The Straits Times understands the protest was initiated by investors who had used their retirement funds to buy into High Notes 5 which was sold by DBS, Singapore’s largest lender.
DBS issued a statement in response to a query from The Straits Times yesterday on whether the bank has concluded its valuation process for DBS High Notes 5.
It said it expects the final valuation to be completed ‘on or around’ Oct 31. It also reiterated that, ‘in the worst case scenario, customers could lose their entire investment’.
Mr Gerard Ee, the independent party appointed by DBS to oversee its complaints handling and resolution processes, also issued a statement through the Monetary Authority of Singapore last night.
Mr Ee assured investors that the bank has ‘a systematic process in place to handle customer complaints’ but asked for patience, adding ‘more time will be needed to gather information and retrieve documentation before assessing each case’.
In Hong Kong, banks that distributed similar products came under fire yesterday from politicians, who accused them of playing down the risks of structured products backed by Lehman.
As in Singapore, the products were sold to smaller, retail investors and many are poised to lose most, if not all of their investments. Many have already staged protests over the last few weeks.
DBS’s Hong Kong subsidiary pledged yesterday to compensate investors if they found that the products were sold to retail customers in a misleading way.
‘If we find there was any wrongdoing during the sales of structural products, we will be responsible and compensate the customers fully,’ said Ms Linda Wong, DBS Hong Kong’s head of consumer banking in Hong Kong.
Mr Rajan Raju, DBS’s head of consumer banking in Singapore, gave a similar assurance to investors.
He said: ‘In the event where evidence of mis-selling is established, DBS Bank will not hesitate to take responsibility.’
Source : Straits Times - 14 Oct 2008
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