Speaker’s Corner 1 November 2008 - Speech

1. Petition #4
I have received 1,017 signatures for Petition #4 which is addressed to the Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The Petition asks the MAS to:
a) appoint or set up an independent unit to receive the complaints and to provide assistance to the complainants to write their statement.
b) encourage the financial institutions to adopt a collective approach in offering fair compensation to investors who have been misled into investing in these unsuitable investments.

I have lodged the Petition with MAS on Saturday. I have asked to meet the chairman of a senior official of MAS next week.

2. Complaint form
MAS has issued a statement that 2,500 investors have lodged a complaint about mis-selling of the structured products. Another 7,500 investors have not lodged their complaint.

We will continue to help these investors to lodge their complaint. I have printed the complaint form to help the investors to gather the required information.

This form will be distributed to investors at Speaker’s Corner. You can get a form from a volunteer, who can help to explain the required information to you.

The complaint form can also be downloaded from my blog, www.tankinlian.blogspot.com.

For investors who wish to get a lawyer to help to prepare a statutory declaration, the telephone number of the lawyer is stated in the form. Call Ms Ivy Goh (Tel: 68999888). Fee: $120 plus GST

3. Dialogue with senior management
I suggest that investors in each group (based on the distributor that sold the product) should get together to sign a collective letter to the senior management of the distributor.

You should ask the senior management to:

a) Obtain from the trustees a detailed statement of account for each series of the credit linked securities sold to us, from the inception until the latest available date, together with a valuation of each series of the securities at the latest available date.

b) To hold a meeting of the investors to give an explanation on the performance of each series of the securities and to allow the investors to ask questions and seek clarification. You should also ask for the independent, well-regarded person to be present at the meeting.

c) Discuss how the investors were misled into investing in the structured product, and how the distributor can compensate the investors for their loss.

4. Collective legal action
The collective legal action will be considered as the last resort, if it is not possible for the investors and distributor to agree on a fair settlement.

The possible actions that can be taken are:
a) Misleading information in the prospectus and sales materials
b) Mis-representation and inappropriate recommendation given by the sales representatives

5. Meeting of investors
The purpose of the weekly meeting at Speaker’s Corner is for the investors to meet other investors according to the distributor that sold the product to you.

You can share information abow how you were mis-sold and the appropriate steps to make your claim. You can also discuss about the collective legal action (at the last resort).

Some investors have come forward to be leaders of the group. You should contact your group leaders for advice and for collective action.

Please give your full support to your group leaders.

6. Tan Kin Lian’s Blog
Please refer to my blog for the appropriate information and the latest update:
www.tankinlian.blogspot.com.

If you are not able to access the blog, ask your family member or friend to help you.

During this time, I am very busy. Please avoid asking me to spend time on individual matters, as I do not have the time to attend to it.

Tan Kin Lian