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Monday, 3 November 2008
Citibank refuses to provide tape recordings of phone conversations
Citibank has declined to provide tape recordings of telephone conversations between its staff and people who were sold Lehman Brothers-related products, prompting a legislator to accuse the bank of breaking a promise.
Citibank refuses to provide tape recordings of phone conversations
Peter So 3 November 2008
Citibank has declined to provide tape recordings of telephone conversations between its staff and people who were sold Lehman Brothers-related products, prompting a legislator to accuse the bank of breaking a promise.
At a two-hour meeting yesterday between bank representatives and about 50 clients who had invested in Lehman-linked derivatives through the bank, investors asked for the tape recordings to find out if any mis-selling had occurred.
Democratic Party legislator Kam Nai-wai, who has been leading the party’s efforts to help investors, said the bank had declined the requests, despite promising three weeks ago to provide copies.
“The bank said it had sought legal advice afterwards ... [it] only agreed to let the clients listen to the records in the presence of the bank’s staff,” Mr Kam said.
He said the bank might have been concerned that clients would file lawsuits if the evidence was unfavourable to it.
Mr Kam said the Monetary Authority should step in, because it had told legislators that clients had the right to obtain such records for reference.
He also called on the bank to accept mediation or arbitration with clients to sort out disputes.
The bank said in a statement that it would go through the cases individually, and would take appropriate action if any mis-selling was uncovered.
“The results of the meeting were disappointing,” Mr Kam said.
The party had said it was preparing to help investors aged 65 or above, with little education and investment experience, file lawsuits this week against three banks - Bank of China (Hong Kong), Dah Sing Bank and DBS - which allegedly mis-sold Lehman-related derivatives.
But Mr Kam said it had put lawsuits against Dah Sing Bank and DBS on hold because both had said they were willing to reach settlements with those who had lost money.
The party would decide on Wednesday whether to help a couple of elderly investors take Bank of China to court because it had yet to make a similar declaration, he said.
The party organised another meeting yesterday to teach elderly investors what to look out for when dealing with bank staff.
Forty participants said they were considering using the Small Claims Tribunal to demand compensation of less than HK$50,000.
In a radio interview yesterday, Mr Kam expressed sympathy for people who had lost money on investments in Lehman-related derivatives and described the situation as “shocking”.
He said he had been answering dozens of phone calls and e-mails every day from those affected.
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Citibank refuses to provide tape recordings of phone conversations
Peter So
3 November 2008
Citibank has declined to provide tape recordings of telephone conversations between its staff and people who were sold Lehman Brothers-related products, prompting a legislator to accuse the bank of breaking a promise.
At a two-hour meeting yesterday between bank representatives and about 50 clients who had invested in Lehman-linked derivatives through the bank, investors asked for the tape recordings to find out if any mis-selling had occurred.
Democratic Party legislator Kam Nai-wai, who has been leading the party’s efforts to help investors, said the bank had declined the requests, despite promising three weeks ago to provide copies.
“The bank said it had sought legal advice afterwards ... [it] only agreed to let the clients listen to the records in the presence of the bank’s staff,” Mr Kam said.
He said the bank might have been concerned that clients would file lawsuits if the evidence was unfavourable to it.
Mr Kam said the Monetary Authority should step in, because it had told legislators that clients had the right to obtain such records for reference.
He also called on the bank to accept mediation or arbitration with clients to sort out disputes.
The bank said in a statement that it would go through the cases individually, and would take appropriate action if any mis-selling was uncovered.
“The results of the meeting were disappointing,” Mr Kam said.
The party had said it was preparing to help investors aged 65 or above, with little education and investment experience, file lawsuits this week against three banks - Bank of China (Hong Kong), Dah Sing Bank and DBS - which allegedly mis-sold Lehman-related derivatives.
But Mr Kam said it had put lawsuits against Dah Sing Bank and DBS on hold because both had said they were willing to reach settlements with those who had lost money.
The party would decide on Wednesday whether to help a couple of elderly investors take Bank of China to court because it had yet to make a similar declaration, he said.
The party organised another meeting yesterday to teach elderly investors what to look out for when dealing with bank staff.
Forty participants said they were considering using the Small Claims Tribunal to demand compensation of less than HK$50,000.
In a radio interview yesterday, Mr Kam expressed sympathy for people who had lost money on investments in Lehman-related derivatives and described the situation as “shocking”.
He said he had been answering dozens of phone calls and e-mails every day from those affected.
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