75-year-old retiree loses S$400,000 with Lehman's collapse
By Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 11 October 2008 2152 hrs

	Photos  of
	Related News • 983 S'poreans petition for MAS to probe sale of credit-linked securities • Independent parties appointed to oversee complaints over Lehman-linked products • MAS issues guidelines on structured finance resolutions

SINGAPORE: Some 10,000 people in Singapore paid out half a billion Singdollars for structured financial products linked to the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers.

75-year-old Mary Kwok is one of them. She lost S$400,000 – money meant for her and her husband's retirement.

She said they had never made any high-risk investments until two years ago when she was collecting interest from her fixed deposit account. That was when a financial consultant introduced her to Lehman Brothers Minibonds, promising low risks.

The total issue size of the Lehman Brothers Minibonds was S$508 million. Out of this, S$375 million was sold to about 8,000 retail investors through nine distributors in Singapore.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said action will be taken if its investigations uncover misrepresentation from financial institutions to their clients when selling the Lehman Brothers Minibonds.


- CNA/so