Dow Jones: Hong Kong banks will buy back mini-bonds

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--All the banks in Hong Kong will buy back the
mini-bonds backed by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH) that they sold to
retail investors, the Chinese-language Hong Kong Economic Journal reported
Friday, citing unnamed sources.

The paper said the banks and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority plan to
announce the details of the package Friday.

Monday, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said Hong Kong''s banks sold
HK$20.17 billion (US$2.59 billion) worth of Lehman-related products to
retail investors, including HK$11.2 billion of mini-bonds, whose value
plunged after Lehman collapsed last month.

Separately, an 84-year-old woman and her mentally-ill son reached an
agreement with on a partial refund from DBS Group Holdings Ltd. (D05.SG) on
derivatives backed by Lehman, the South China Morning Post reported Friday,
citing the woman''s younger son.

The paper said it is the first case of settlement, but didn''t disclose the
details of the compensation.

-By Aries Poon, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2832-2332; aries.poon@dowjones.com