Speaking about investors who have lost money in structured products, Senior Minister (SM) Goh Chok Tongsays Singaporeans “must see their losses in perspective” and be “realistic in their expectation of recovering their losses.” The SM also said that the financial institutions will investigate “each case thoroughly” and if there was any doubt, they would try and settle it “in favour of the investor”.
At a separate event, Mr Tan Kin Lian spoke to a crowd of about 500 investors at Speakers Corner on Saturday. In his speech, Mr Tan revealed that he was contacted by a bank in Hong Kong which has offered to take over the management of the minibonds from local financial institutions. Mr Tan said that he has put the bank in touch with the MAS. Most of Mr Tan’s speech yesterday, which was also translated into Chinese by Mr Goh Meng Seng, was dedicated to providing advice to investors on what they should do if they were to lodge complaints with the banks and the authorities. Copies of the instructions were quickly snapped up by the investors, some of whom were unsure of what to do in lodging complaints and were thus very appreciative of Mr Tan’s actions.
Below are two videos of the speeches by SM Goh and Mr Tan Kin Lian. For Mr Tan Kin Lian’s full speech at Speakers’ Corner, please visit TOC’s YouTube page.
Report on SM Goh’s speech by local tv channel:
Tan Kin Lian:
Of course we should all see the losses in perspective….. like the investments in Barclays (we paid 720p for each share to fight with RBS to buy ABN-Amro and which turned out to be a price too high that the successful buyers all went into some sort of problems themselves aterwards) and the high prices for UBS, CITIBANK, MERRILL LYNCH (now BoA), not forgetting Shincorp.
They have lost for all of us already…. (oh…it should be long term, solid franchise – until ML was swallowed up – so much for that franchise!! The market didn’t beleive in the franchise when they hammered their shares !!!), Barclays needs more capital (too proud to take govt money?).
Sickens me to see how he can give motherhood statements – ‘in favour of the investor’ ??? How ? The panel appointed by the banks to investigate not MAS !!
Talk is Cheap. You are Not Mr. Goh.
The govt should provide all their support to the middle class & below. (making up the majority of Sporeans) & not the elite when such crisis happens.
38) ltm on October 19th, 2008 10.39 pm
May be you want to be more specific. To make such a sweeping statement “Practically all the comments are negative, sarcastic, unhelpful.”
is not going to help either. May be you should share a view or two to help enlighten these people who are in distressed.
When reality sets in, I think it is going to be ugly for some investors. The clock is ticking and the global recession is inching in. Over the weekend in Hong Kong, we see a 62 years history electronic traders and importer folded. Warning signals had been hoisted everywhere even with the Hong Kong Jockey Club (supposedly no way for them to loose money and with 20,000 employees), Cathaty Airlines, Banks and other Service companies are tightening their belts as well (employment will freeze or decline), manufacturing companies up north had either stop production or folded (due to lack of order from US and Europe).
All these thanks to the estimated 6 trillion dollars of paper junks that even savvy Banks and Institutions thought they were buying real stuff (of course the risk has been down-flowed to investors). Will you be entice if your Financial Planner told you that he/she can make you a PE return of 18% year on year for the next 5 years if you transfer your fixed deposits to this supposedly safe “Bonds”? If your will power cannot hold off your greed, you would have fallen into this. The question now is who’s at fault? Why did they dragged in the innocents by standers (people who do not, have not, and did not) the money to invest but because of this collapse that triggle a global recession, no one is spared. I think the government emphasis should be put to address how to help these innocents by standers. They are generally at the bottom of the ladder and finding it hard to cope.
GCT’s perspective: “Huh!? You lost $600K. But that’s only one peanut!”
i fully agree with #53) Observer (SG-HK) on October 20th, 2008 10.08 am.
i also feel it is time the silent majority speaks up and demand what the govt’s plan is to ensure that we are insulated from all these upheavals. we are reasonable enough to understand the global situation and we can even stick it out for the affected investors – but – i feel it is also fair for us to put forth a ‘what’s in it for me?” demand.
problem with this govt is they are doing nothing for both investors and non-investors alike. where is the security that this govt speaks of?.
we will do well to remember this ‘dragging-of-feet’ episode the next time the pap speaks about its track records – something it prides itself in especially during election time.
i just want to know who in MAS gave the approval for the sale of the lehman minibond then. the approver must take the rap for approving it as a “bond” when it was never a bond. very misleading to public !
Would all RM sell to 10,000 people using same tactic without any influence from their higher up?
Just asking only.
Heard of TW Bian story?
Before exhorting those who have lost money to see their losses “in perspective”, GCT himself should come down from his ivory tower and see things from THEIR perspective. And for many that perspective is to see their blood and sweat money scrimped and saved over 30-40 years go up in smoke in their old age because banks and financial institutions mis-sold them products that should never have been in the market in the first place.
I’m expecting Mr. GCK to side step the Q & A in parliment. And I’m expecting the ST to tone down the seriousness with it’s reporting. An I’m expecting bad news for the investors.
So much for good governance and trust. I hope I’m wrong.
From my perspective, I believe that GCT’s perspective is on top of an ivory tower for the past 20 years or more. I strongly recommend that it is time that he comes down to earth to see and speak from the ground perspective.
When “intelligent fraud” under different guises has been deliberately committed at an aggressive pace openly and widely by financial institutions, especially local banks, against innocent and ill-informed citizens, it is the responsibility and the task of MAS to take proactive actions (not reactive lip-service) to immediately initiate criminal investigations in conjunction with the Commercial Crimes Division into such “intelligent fraud” to bring about justice where it deserves.
I hope we are not going to have to wait until the situation turns out to become a similar fiasco like that of the Great Limping Escape of Mas Selamat Sudah-Lari or the Nicole Highway Collapse?
Telling the citizens that MAS is working behind the scene is not only a lame excuse to shake off this responsibility and avoid taking on this urgently-needed task, but also a very unprofessional approach that spells suspicion that there could be something that cannot see daylight, something that the MAS might be trying to hide from public knowledge. Is the MAS trying to protect any govt-linked companies from the backlash of this wide-spread public unhappiness?
Why this dragging of feet, the obvious reluctance to take direct immediate actions, which is not the style of our track-recorded PAP govt?
Is GCT getting too old, no more mentally alert enough to do the job? If so, maybe he should voluntarily retire immediately and make way for a younger, more alert, proactive and politically-neutral person for the good of our country and our people.
I sincerely feel that the position of the Chairman of MAS should be held by a non-politically motivated person so that he/she could not be sub-consciously held beholden to his political party and political leadership.
in such an event that involved so many investors, the regulatory body MAS and our national bank, why is our PM, especially when he was once a finance minister, not speaking up?
Goh Chok Tong is one very lucky idiot. The fact that Lee Kuan Yew chose him to be his successor tells us something about his judgement.
Why not wooden Goh and the ministers see their horrendous high salary in perspective and be realistic to expect that they don’t deserve such high salary. Being a citizen and with all due respects, I don’t even know what are the duties of the Senior Minister and what has he been contributing to the country. What I know is that he is always travelling overseas playing golf with dignitaries.
61) blade on October 20th, 2008 6.28 pm why is our PM, especially when he was once a finance minister, not speaking up?
The script goes like this: usually SM and MM will come out to say something, in no particular order. Then PM will make his appearance, and say something to the effect of “what to do? It happened. Let’s move on”, followed by a string of chorus from MSM. That would be the last time we will hear of it, like CPF Life and Mas Selamat. And before you know it, they have found the perfect solution (yes, that’s MAS working quietly behind the scenes with CPF) to help future investors – by locking up their money in CPF in the ever-increasing minimum sum game.
And as predicted, MSM came up with timely headlines today about Marina Sands Resort hiring up to 10,000 people. Does the number sound familiar? 10000 lost substantial savings, 10000 IR positions up for grabs. Kudos to MSM.
Its really sick to hear that our garments leaving behind the singaporeans to fan for themselves when the citizens are in trouble while they still plays their tai-chi to avoid lending their hands to help up. How do you expect the people of singapore to trust you in governing the country anymore? Is it because you do not bear to part with those easy $$$billions you made from the citizens all these years.
Altho Goh is still on gubbermen payroll, i suspect many think he contribute so much even now when he is as SM.
Maybe he can even win presidency if the majority supports him as always ?
Hope $500 Million invested in Lehman Brothers loss in Singapore, is NOT PEANUTS!
We talk so much about IR (casino) in Singapore ………………create jobs, jobs, jobs and earn Tourist $$$$$$ now IR stands for IN RECESSION………………….so where the the real IR heading???
looks like the 10,000 have to find jobs………..you scratch my back, I scratch yours…..also job as you cannot do foot reflexology or massage because you are too old …….fend for yourself and pray that Lehman brothers will rise from the dead
Well done Mr Tan Kin Lian. If there is a election coming up, please vote for him as President or our next PM, SM or MM. Mr Tan is surely more efficient in solving problem and coming up with feasible solutions rather than the PAP ministers who are on-lookers and by-standers only. It’s white elephant getting million dollar pay but still cannot come up with a plan. They only know how to talk and wayang only. And what is putting things in perspective? Is the lost of money a perspective to look into when in old age, or gov regulation to help us in our retirement. I think the PAP has no hearts to help. They only know how to enrich themselves by paying themselves million pay, and when things happened, they attribute it to market forces, recession and our own fault in investing wrongly. They only know how to push the blame … Please show them our power in our vote for them!
When you are paid so much in a recession and in times of economic turmoil, you have to siam, right?
What a diasppointment of leadership in caring for citizens in just one stormy weather!
Without oversimplifying, I suspect most investors invest out of prudence rather than greed. It would be the responsible thing to do, given that ordinary citizens have been bled by their savings accounts for years due to near-zero interest and relatively high bank charges, and that FDs aren’t doing too well either, in the context of the rising costs of living. In contrast, most of us with housing loans would have witnessed significant upward revisions of interest rates in recent times. Wages have been depressed in many sectors for the middle-aged worker, with relatively more new jobs going to FT.
This year in particular, costs have been driven up wildly in so many ways by increases slapped from various angles, most of which originated locally, rather than globally. The 21% increase in electricity tariff is but the latest salvo, and if the inflation triggered by the 2-point GST increase was any indication of things to come, we can expect even steeper, sustained, across-the-board price increases when a basic utility such as electricity now costs significantly more.
With the ever-increasing Minimum Sum requirements for CPF, it’s little wonder that common folks earning down-to-earth salaries would be looking for ways to grow their savings reasonably, to have access to ready cash, and to work as long as possible, so as to keep up with the costs of living. I personally have seen cases where people with monies in CPF are forced to live on handouts because those monies cannot be used for day to day living expenses.
The perspective that SM Goh should consider is really that of the ordinary citizen. The ordinary citizen has been hard hit by artificial cost increases that can be postponed or even reversed, but which the authorities chose not to for economic reasons. He sees little prospect of ever getting anything out of his CPF even in old age, other than the proportionately unrealistic CPF Life annuity payments, and when he disposes of his house on the assumption that he’s able to find smaller, cheaper housing for life, and that only after repaying CPF with interest.
The real perspective, Mr Goh, is bleak enough for most, without losing money in irresponsibly-packaged products targeted at middle-agers. Now, if Mr Goh or any of his colleagues would do the right thing and just spend some real time with his fellow citizens doing their best to survive in Singapore, it would not be difficult to see why things look so different on the ground.
I’m surprised at Mr Lim Hng Kiang’s comments in today’s ST’s report entitled “S’pore Govt warns of slower growth and higher unemployment ahead”. He said that inflation has peaked and that prices can be expected to drop in the months ahead. Is this truly the MTI’s assessment? On what basis was this conclusion arrived at, especially after the 21% electricity tariff increase kicked in? Would Mr Lim care to enlighten us on the cause of his optimism?
There is a saying when a person likes to tell lies, he always forget what he had said earlier no matter how many times he’s been asked the same question, there is always a different answer. It seems that we have alot of these people in the parliament these days, besides those who are just dumbs.
Why hasn’t the Prime Minister even make a little squeak upon this urgent issue? Does he consider the matter too trivial for him to handle? Has his cancer suddenly relapsed? Is he so sick that he is unable to even make a squeak?
Or is he afraid to get into the cross-fire in such a crisis?
Or is he by nature a very aloof person who pretends to be approachable and accommodating?
Like some of you, I too begin to sense that whenever there is a crisis at the national level, he seems to take cover, allowing others to speak on his behalf.
A real leader should be proactive to take the lead to handle any national crisis head-on instead of side-stepping by making others taking the rap for him. The least he could do is to at least to say a few words to pacify public anger, unhappiness and disquiet.
What kind of leadership is he trying to show all of us?
We have a gahmen that keeps telling us the citizen to “accept your losses when it is your fault”, reminding us “it is your fault, accept that”.
Or “why don’t you just “guay guay” put the savings in CPF and earn interest and feel RICH?”.
Are all these sentences helpful and useful?
Maybe some real actions will help to boost some confidence here.
If the law suit against the financial bodies for mis-representation drags until next GE, the chances of getting the money back may be quite high as that’s the time for some to play HERO.