Andrew Loh / Deputy Editor
In a press statement released by the Workers’ Party on the possibility of investors of structured products staging a class action suit, its secretary-general and MP for Hougang, Mr Low Thia Khiang, said that he is “concerned that such investors may end up paying huge legal costs.”
Urging the investors to seek redress through financial institutions (FIs) and then through the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (Fidrec) before considering any further action, Mr Low said “seeking legal redress should only be resorted to if investors are unhappy with the ruling by Fidrec.”
Mr Low also urged the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) “to issue a detailed standard guideline” on various aspects of how the FIs should handle investors’ complaints.
“MAS should also require the FIs and Fidrec to set a time frame for handling such cases before them,” said Mr Low, “so that affected investors have some certainty to allay their anxieties and to decide at which point of time they should consider other options.”
MAS has said that about 10,000 investors of structured products are affected by the current credit-linked securities situation. In a ministerial speech in Parliament on Monday, minister Lim Hng Kiang also said that legal action by investors would mean that “investors will have to wait weeks if not months, maybe even years before they can have recourse.”
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