SCMP:Two women sue bank over minibond losses

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11 Jan 2009
Yvonne Tsui

A 69-year-old woman and her daughter-in-law are seeking a full refund and damages from the Bank of China (Hong Kong) over their losses in Lehman Brothers minibonds.

Chin Yee-ching, a retired woman living in Malaysia, and her daughterin-law Chan Lai-mei, who lives in Po Shan Road, filed a writ in the High Court against Bank of China (Hong Kong) on Friday.

The bank is accused of being negligent in failing to “ correctly and accurately disclose and explain the real nature and structure of the product” and the true risk involved in their minibond investments.

Minibonds are not corporate bonds, but consist of high-risk creditlinked derivatives. They are marketed as a proxy investment in well-known companies.

In the writ, the pair also allege the bank failed to provide sufficient information and time for them to consider and make investment decisions about the products.

It said that Ms Chin and Ms Chan were approached by Cheng Kit-yee, a bank officer at a branch in Connaught Road Central, and Ms Cheng persuaded them to buy a series 35 minibond.

The claim said Ms Cheng told Ms Chan that the minibond was very low risk and the interest yield was good. Ms Cheng allegedly told her that the product was just like a time deposit and was very safe, while the interest was a little bit higher.

Ms Chan then agreed to early uplift of her US dollar fixed time deposit of US$ 80,000 so she could buy the minibonds, and Ms Cheng helped her apply for a waiver of the early uplift penalty. The writ said Ms Chan further agreed to use HK$ 400,000 savings to purchase the minibonds.

Having allegedly suggested the product was low risk and a conservative investment, Ms Cheng advised Ms Chin to invest her HK$1.48 million savings in minibonds.

However, another bank officer, Kenneth Lam, informed the pair in late September that the collapse of the American bank on September 15 affected their minibond investments.