1 May 2013
Editor
Forum Page
Straits Times
I wish to give my rebuttal to the letter from Miss Grace Tan Mui Gek
"Why protect these investors?" (ST 1 May 2013}
"Why protect these investors?" (ST 1 May 2013}
Ms Tan did not address my key concern. There are already existing laws
on deposit taking and issue of securities that are supposed to be administered
by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
The gold bar scheme that promises an attractive rate of interest and return
of capital is akin to a deposit. It should be possible for the MAS to advice the
operators that they could be running foul of this law, and if they still persist, to
file a charge in court.
Miss Tan give the ridiculous example of strangers standing outside the
corridor of her flat. I am not asking the authority to act against these
strangers.
I am asking the authority to act against a company that is registered in
Singapore, promotes investment schemes that could infringe the
existing laws in Singapore, advertises their dubious products through
the main newspapers, television channels or public talks, and
carrying on these activities for several years.
Being allowed to operate for so long, they acquire the mantle of
authenticity.
By putting them in the Investors Alert List, they MAS do know
of the existence of these dubious schemes but did not take action to investigate.
How many members of the public are aware of the existence of such a list?
Some of these products are later found to be fraudulent and have been investigated
by the Commercial Affairs Department. But the action is taken far too late, and
too many investors have lost a lot of savings. This will bring down the good
reputation of Singapore.
Tan Kin Lian
President
Financial Services Consumer Association
FISCA should lodge a police report on behalf of consumers if you think there is any wrong doing by any parties.
ReplyDeleteMs Tan may sound callous, direct and abrupt in her criticisms, but the underlying reason for investors to let heart rules over head in investing in these dubious products is basically Greed, thinking they are smart alecky enough to run out and let other daft investors to carry the baby.
ReplyDeleteCry Daddy, Mummy, MAS and thus the Govt, just dun wan to be peoples' jaga of their money. Refer to DBS
discrimination of their own 5 Notes saga towards their own Singapore clients, leave them high & dry, but quickly compensating their clients' losses in their HK office. The HK Regulator wields its sword to protect its investors. That says plenty of our MAS's attitude.
Best strategy - protect ourselves from vultures, both local and foreign. Dun expect MAS to do the job.
But if it is State money being cheated in Singapore, it's a different kettle.
MR TAN
ReplyDeleteYOU ARE 100% CORRECT.
The Govt will not do anything because they themselves are dubious in nature, all kinds of deposits should be protected according to the banking act and the different classes of assets should be classified into different risk groups, this Gold deposit scheme should be treated like the Lehman Brother's incident, go after those responsible like a hawk and never let them go, and you can recover all the loses by using insurance, but who is taking the blame?
ReplyDeleteQuote from Miss Tan : “First, the people buying into such schemes can hardly be called true-blue investors. Have they found out how the companies were able to offer interest rates as high as 24 per cent per annum? Or were they simply greedy or foolish to believe that such good deals really existed? ...... We cannot investigate people or companies just because we suspect them of possibly intending to commit fraud. The stranger standing along the corridor outside my flat cannot be hauled to the police station just because I suspect him of possibly intending to commit a crime.”
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Miss Tan. MAS should investigate people or companies if there are strong reasons of suspecting of possible intending to commit fraud. In this case, offering interest rates as high as 24 per cent per annum is.
It is not just a stranger standing along the corridor outside my flat, he is standing outside my flat in the middle of the night!
MAS has for too long been evading its responsibilities.
ReplyDeletePeriod.