Make a Police Report on gold bar investment

Mr. Wong (not his real name) invested over $1 million in the gold bar scheme of the gold trading company that was recently in the news. It represented his entire life savings. He was not aware that the company was on the MAS Alert List. He stopped receiving payment and, to make matters worse, he had deposited his gold bars with the company. He is afraid that his entire savings would be gone. Mr. Wong asked for my advice on the steps that he should take now.

I told Mr. Wong that he should make a Police report. This report may be useful to the Commercial Affairs Department, as they had recently started to investigate the company.

I told Mr. Wong that there is no point to engage a lawyer at this stage, as he would be incurring legal fees and, even if he obtained judgment against the gold trading company, they would probably ignore the judgment.

Other investors in the same situation as Mr. Wong should lodge their Police report as soon as possible, unless they are informed by CAD that this is not necessary.

Slow access to data

Recently, I experienced slow access to data on 3G and broadband, in my home and the office. I used two providers, i.e. SingTel and Starhub. Have you also experienced the slow and unreliable response?

Ten Years of Risk Management Debacles

http://www.cnbc.com/id/49328091/

There were 5 big debacles, all of which involve trading and derivatives of banks and security firms.

1. J P Morgan, derivative trading, loss of $5.8 billion
2. MF Global, European bonds, loss ??
3. Merrill Lynch, morgage, loss ??
4. Citigroup, CDO, loss of $60 billion
5. Morgan Stanley, mortgage, loss of $9.6 billion

Citigroup loss is the biggest! These are due to failures of risk management oversight!

Facecard - what details to include?

If you are not sure how much details to include in your facecard, you can start with your name, e-mail address, telephone (optional) and company (or school). This should be sufficient. You can add more details later on. Just give it a small start. And send a link to your friends.  

Increase in motor premium rates

Motor premium rates have increased by an average of 10% per annum over the past four years. This is not due to bad driving. What is the cause of the increase? Find the reason here. http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=687&IID=691

Providing a service to the public

The purpose of insurance is to cover losses due to unexpected events. These are accidents and are not intentional.

Most people driving on the road do not wish to have an accident as it would lead to loss of life, injury or property damage. Sometimes, they are not careful and may miss or misjudge the timing of a red light. This is how an accident happens.

When they meet with an accident, they already pay a heavy price, through the payment of the Excess and the loss of the No Claim Discount. This can amount to a big financial loss, especially to a person on a tight budget.

Do they regret their carelessness? Of course, they do. This is how people learn through experience.

The purpose of insurance is to cover these types of unexpected events. It is not the duty of the insurance company to "punish" the driver, and act like the prosecutor and judge. Any such punishment should be left to the relevant people, who are trained in such matters.

Is it right for the insurance company to reject the renewal of the insurance and to impose an excessive loading to recover their loss? This is a separate issue.

If I were the regulator, I would impose certain conditions on what is fair, and what is unfair. If an insurance company behave unfairly to consumers, they should not have the licence to transact insurance business. This is not just a business - as there are responsibilities to the public to act in a fair manner.

Property price rise will lead to inflation

 

I AGREE with the views

of Mr Goh Khee Kuan ("No reason to fear if property prices fall"; last Friday)

and Mr Harry Leong ("Think of the Singaporeans to come"; last Friday).

 

Most retirees should be very concerned

if inflation keeps creeping up as it will erode their savings.

 

Inevitably, there will come a time

when some of us may have to downgrade our property,

move to retirement homes

or migrate to a cheaper country to survive.

 

Online

http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/the-inflation-threat-property-price-rises-20121009