MAS Stance On Sale of Structured Investment Products

A couple of days ago, Minister for Trade and Industry and Deputy Chairman of Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Mr Lim Hng Kiang, made a speech on MAS stance on the sale of structured investment products that have caused so much anxiety and anger in the Singapore community.

From a Straits Times article,

Mr Lim also said that if the issue is taken to court, 'nothing will move' amid the legal wrangling.

All financial institutions, everybody will freeze and take legal defensive actions and then your affected investors will have to wait weeks if not months, maybe even years before they can have recourse. I don't think that's the best approach.

The Minister said that the product's prospectus would have outlined the risks: 'These are explained in the first page or second page , that these are structured products and it's in bold print, that you can lose everything.

So MAS has never said that these are risk-free products or low-risk products or safe products.

Opposition MP Low Thia Kiang has his say:

The Minister's answers sound like the MAS shouting across the river, while watching a fire burning

I have a feeling that if a general election is to be held now, the opposition should be able to perform better as compared to the last election. Confidence for the current cabinet is falling.

Be more 'proactive', MAS [via]