Opinion of an investor

Dear All,
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080928/as_hong_kong_lehman_protest.html

Please read about Hong Kong Investors' protest. I reckon that if we are not united and serious about getting our money back, the banks will just 'try their best' to recover whatever they can for us.

Believe all of us didn't know nor understand the complexity of the credit swap derivatives and we thought we have invested in bond-like products. In the money market, risk matches return. Frankly, for a 5% /yr return, why should we be subjected to such high risk? Equity market is said to be most risky, but even if we anyhow invest in the stock market, our money will not be zeroised, right?

I have met up with DBS' product team and expressed my disappointment in their callousness in handling our trust and money. The products were structured to protect the bank's interest. We were made to sign forms we didn't read carefully because we were too trusting. However, if all investors went into the products have the same understanding and experience that we were not well informed, then the intention to deceive is there since day one.

I am not sure about the rest, but DBS' RMs did not take initiatives to call, I called mine. Until Jun or July, we received a letter of assurance that so long as we hold on to the product till maturity, our capital will be in tact. At that point, the DBS HN5 was still valued at 43%.

See, we are no expert in investment, but surely senior management in the banks would have the expertise to read the market situation and forewarn us of the possibility of a credit event. We could have done something.

Understand that in Hongkong, the lawmaker may take the lead to sue the banks. Our equivalent law maker here is MAS. They do have some responsible as to why Credit Swap Derivatives are allowed. Actually Credit Swap Derivatives are complex instruments to allow banks like Lehman Bros to hedge their risk. What does it mean? We investors become the insurers involuntarily. When banks accept premiums on our behalf, they expose us naked to the risk of any downfall of the institutions listed in the reference list.

We will need strong leaders to pull us together really.

Best regards,

KT