OCBC says the elderly woman does not have mental capacity to make financial decisions.
By Selina Lum 20 November 2008
A 91-YEAR-OLD woman, accompanied by her 43-year-old adopted daughter, went to OCBC Bank in May, asking to close her account containing $8.8 million - but the bank would not let her.
The bank, which said it has doubts about her mental capacity to manage her financial affairs independently, froze her account despite her repeated instructions to take out her money.
As prudent bankers, it is duty-bound in law to take reasonable steps to ensure that it acts only on valid instructions, said OCBC. The bank’s position: it will comply with her instructions as soon as she is shown to be mentally capable.
Madam Hwang Cheng Tsu Hsu, a retired teacher, now 92, then sued the bank to get back her locked-up funds.
She first tried to apply for summary judgment - asking the court to make a determination without the need for a full trial - but this was rejected.
OCBC then took out a summons for Madam Hwang to be examined by a psychiatrist. But her lawyer opposed this application.
In a closed-door hearing on Wednesday, an assistant registrar directed both sides to agree on a psychiatrist within seven days. Otherwise, the court will appoint one to examine Madam Hwang.
Madam Hwang’s lawyer, Mr Andrew Ee, told The Straits Times that she is appealing to the High Court against this decision.
In March, Madam Hwang was seen by a psychiatrist of 30 years’ experience, who assessed her to be fit to make a will despite mild dementia.
Mr Ee said he will also be making an urgent application to seek the release of funds to pay for her monthly expenses.
The impasse between Madam Hwang and OCBC began in May, when Madam Hwang and her adopted daughter, Madam Amy Hsu Ann Mei, inquired about opening a joint account.
A couple of days later, a bank officer called Madam Hsu to say no.
Later that month, the two women went to OCBC to close Madam Hwang’s account.
The older woman was brought to a conference room by a relationship manager for a face-to-face meeting with senior bank officials.
Madam Hsu was not allowed in but she found her way to the room and left with her mother.
In the three months after this meeting, a flurry of correspondence between Mr Ee and OCBC followed. Mr Ee repeatedly wrote to the bank to close Madam Hwang’s accounts but OCBC refused and insisted on meeting her face to face.
On Aug 15, OCBC wrote to Madam Hsu, raising doubts about Madam Hwang’s mental capacity. OCBC said it will not accept any further instructions on all her accounts with the bank until these concerns are addressed.
On Aug 29, Madam Hwang filed a suit against OCBC for breach of contract. She wanted the High Court to compel the bank to give back her money.
In its defence, OCBC said that, at all times, it had acted in line with the duty of care imposed by them on law, to withold payment.
Woman, 92, sues bank for freezing her $8.9 million
OCBC says client ‘does not have mental capacity’ to make financial decisions.
Tan May Ping, The New Paper 20 November 2008
All she wants is to get the $8.86million in her bank accounts.
But OCBC Bank would not let 92-year-old Hwang Cheng Tsu Hsu withdraw her money, and has frozen her accounts.
The bank feels that she might not have the mental capacity to make such decisions, and that it is duty-bound to take reasonable care to ensure it acts on valid instructions before releasing the money.
Because of the stalemate, the retired Chinese teacher filed a civil suit against the bank demanding her money back with interest.
In May, Madam Hwang went to the bank with her adopted daughter, Madam Hsu Ann Mei, 43, to open a joint account.
Madam Hsu, who is acting on behalf of her mother, told The New Paper that they both agreed that she could help facilitate transactions given Madam Hwang’s advanced age.
They were made to sign some forms at the bank that day, she said.
When they didn’t hear from the bank after a few days, Madam Hsu called her mother’s relationship manager, and was told that their request was rejected.
She then asked if they could transfer all of Madam Hwang’s fixed deposits, when they matured, into the latter’s current account, but that request was also turned down.
The bulk of Madam Hwang’s money is held in fixed deposits.
A few days after their request to open the joint account, the relationship manager and another officer went to Madam Hwang’s house where she lives with a maid.
Many questions
They were there for 10 minutes, and asked Madam Hwang many questions, said Madam Hsu.
‘As my mother didn’t know them, she just kept saying ‘I don’t know’ to their questions,’ she added.
Mother and daughter then decided to close all the accounts amounting to $8.86million with the view of depositing the money at a different bank.
But when they went to close the accounts, Madam Hsu said she was separated from her mother, who was then interviewed by four bank officers, including the head of private banking.
After less than 10 minutes, Madam Hsu went in, repeated the instructions to close the accounts, and then left with her mother.
Madam Hsu and her lawyer subsequently wrote to the bank several times over the next three months asking for the closure of the accounts but to no avail.
Madam Hsu then wrote to the chairmen of both the bank and the Monetary Authority of Singapore seeking advice.
In mid-August, the bank responded, saying it wasn’t able to release the money as it had doubts about Madam Hwang’s mental capacity.
There was another shock in store when Madam Hwang and her daughter tried to withdraw money from her OCBC account in late August - all her accounts had been frozen.
Madam Hwang filed the suit in the High Court in August.
She is represented by Mr Andrew Ee from Andrew Ee & Co.
In its defence, the bank claimed that Madam Hwang does not have the mental capacity to make such important financial decisions independently.
It said that it was Madam Hsu who asked to open the joint account and to transfer the fixed deposit amounts into the account.
Further, when the two bank officers went to Madam Hwang’s house, they found her disoriented, and unable to remember things.
The bank, which is represented by Mr Adrian Wong and Mr Jansen Chow of Rajah & Tann, insists it is being cautious.
Mr Wong told The New Paper: ‘In the case of a bank learning that a customer may be mentally incapable, it is the law that all operations on the account must be stopped pending the establishment of an appropriate arrangement to deal with the situation.
‘This is only logical as any ‘instructions’ from a mentally incapable customer surely can’t be valid.’
At a hearing in chambers yesterday, the court ordered for Madam Hwang to undergo a psychiatric re-examination.
Mental status
She had been found in March to be suffering from mild dementia, which affects her short-term memory. But the evaluation found her general mental faculties intact, and that she was able to make decisions in her everyday life.
The court has given both parties seven days to agree on a medical expert, failing which the court will appoint one.
Madam Hsu was legally adopted when she was a year-old. Her adoptive father, who was a senior banker, died in 1987.
She said her mother had accumulated the money from a $3 million enbloc sale of a condominium apartment, and from encashing shares which she held.
‘Up to this day, I can’t understand how it ended up like that. It started out as something very simple,’ said Madam Hsu, who quit her job as a tour guide to deal with this matter.
But OCBC says it doubts she is mentally capable of managing her finances
By Selina Lum 21 November 2008
An elderly woman, accompanied by her adopted daughter, went to OCBC Bank in May, indicating that she wanted to close her account containing $8.8 million - but the bank would not let her.
The bank rejected her repeated requests to take out her money and froze her account, saying later that it has doubts about her mental capacity to manage her financial affairs independently.
Madam Hwang Cheng Tsu Hsu, a retired teacher, now 92, then sued the bank to get back her locked-up funds.
However, the bank said that, as prudent bankers, it was duty-bound by law to take reasonable steps to ensure that it acts only on valid instructions.
The bank’s position: It will comply with her instructions as soon as she is shown to be mentally capable.
Madam Hwang applied for summary judgment - asking the court to decide without the need for a full trial - but this was denied earlier this month.
OCBC then applied for a court order for Madam Hwang to be examined by a psychiatrist of its choice but she opposed this.
In a closed-door hearing on Wednesday, a Supreme Court assistant registrar directed both sides to agree on a psychiatrist within seven days or it will appoint one.
Madam Hwang’s lawyer, Mr. Andrew Ee, told The Straits Times she is appealing to the High Court against both decisions.
Mr. Ee said his client has already filed reports from a reliable psychiatrist to the court, which said she was mentally capable of managing her bank accounts.
In March, two months before she went to close her account, Madam Hwang was seen by a psychiatrist who assessed her to be fit enough to make a will despite suffering from mild dementia.
Mr. Ee said he will be making an urgent application to the court to seek the release of funds as Madam Hwang needs to pay for her monthly expenses.
The impasse between Madam Hwang and OCBC had its roots from a visit to the bank in May, when Madam Hwang and her adopted daughter, Madam Amy Hsu Ann Mei, 43, asked about opening a joint account. The bank said no.
Later that month, the women went to OCBC again, this time to close Madam Hwang’s account.
In a letter to Madam Hsu on Aug 15, OCBC raised doubts about Madam Hwang’s mental capacity. The bank said it will not accept further instructions on all her accounts until these concerns were addressed.
On Aug 29, Madam Hwang filed a suit against OCBC for breach of contract and asked that the bank be compelled to give her money back to her.
In its defence, OCBC said it had acted in line with the duty of care imposed on banks by law to withhold payment. Any reasonably prudent banker would have been put on notice, it said.
OCBC said the officer who attended to the women in May had felt uneasy as it was Madam Hsu, not Madam Hwang, who gave instructions to open a joint account.
The age difference between the women also raised red flags about whether Madam Hsu was Madam Hwang’s daughter, the bank said. Two bank employees who visited Madam Hwang’s home a few days later found her frail and disoriented.
She could not remember telling the bank to open a joint account, they said, and could not even recall visiting the bank. Madam Hwang also could not give consistent answers when asked about her family members and age, said OCBC.
The visit led the bank to believe she was mentally incapacitated. This was strengthened on her subsequent visit to the bank, when she could not give a lucid explanation as to why she was there.
Madam Hwang’s appeal is expected to be heard next week.
3 comments:
Woman’s $8.8m Frozen
OCBC says the elderly woman does not have mental capacity to make financial decisions.
By Selina Lum
20 November 2008
A 91-YEAR-OLD woman, accompanied by her 43-year-old adopted daughter, went to OCBC Bank in May, asking to close her account containing $8.8 million - but the bank would not let her.
The bank, which said it has doubts about her mental capacity to manage her financial affairs independently, froze her account despite her repeated instructions to take out her money.
As prudent bankers, it is duty-bound in law to take reasonable steps to ensure that it acts only on valid instructions, said OCBC. The bank’s position: it will comply with her instructions as soon as she is shown to be mentally capable.
Madam Hwang Cheng Tsu Hsu, a retired teacher, now 92, then sued the bank to get back her locked-up funds.
She first tried to apply for summary judgment - asking the court to make a determination without the need for a full trial - but this was rejected.
OCBC then took out a summons for Madam Hwang to be examined by a psychiatrist. But her lawyer opposed this application.
In a closed-door hearing on Wednesday, an assistant registrar directed both sides to agree on a psychiatrist within seven days. Otherwise, the court will appoint one to examine Madam Hwang.
Madam Hwang’s lawyer, Mr Andrew Ee, told The Straits Times that she is appealing to the High Court against this decision.
In March, Madam Hwang was seen by a psychiatrist of 30 years’ experience, who assessed her to be fit to make a will despite mild dementia.
Mr Ee said he will also be making an urgent application to seek the release of funds to pay for her monthly expenses.
The impasse between Madam Hwang and OCBC began in May, when Madam Hwang and her adopted daughter, Madam Amy Hsu Ann Mei, inquired about opening a joint account.
A couple of days later, a bank officer called Madam Hsu to say no.
Later that month, the two women went to OCBC to close Madam Hwang’s account.
The older woman was brought to a conference room by a relationship manager for a face-to-face meeting with senior bank officials.
Madam Hsu was not allowed in but she found her way to the room and left with her mother.
In the three months after this meeting, a flurry of correspondence between Mr Ee and OCBC followed. Mr Ee repeatedly wrote to the bank to close Madam Hwang’s accounts but OCBC refused and insisted on meeting her face to face.
On Aug 15, OCBC wrote to Madam Hsu, raising doubts about Madam Hwang’s mental capacity. OCBC said it will not accept any further instructions on all her accounts with the bank until these concerns are addressed.
On Aug 29, Madam Hwang filed a suit against OCBC for breach of contract. She wanted the High Court to compel the bank to give back her money.
In its defence, OCBC said that, at all times, it had acted in line with the duty of care imposed by them on law, to withold payment.
Woman, 92, sues bank for freezing her $8.9 million
OCBC says client ‘does not have mental capacity’ to make financial decisions.
Tan May Ping, The New Paper
20 November 2008
All she wants is to get the $8.86million in her bank accounts.
But OCBC Bank would not let 92-year-old Hwang Cheng Tsu Hsu withdraw her money, and has frozen her accounts.
The bank feels that she might not have the mental capacity to make such decisions, and that it is duty-bound to take reasonable care to ensure it acts on valid instructions before releasing the money.
Because of the stalemate, the retired Chinese teacher filed a civil suit against the bank demanding her money back with interest.
In May, Madam Hwang went to the bank with her adopted daughter, Madam Hsu Ann Mei, 43, to open a joint account.
Madam Hsu, who is acting on behalf of her mother, told The New Paper that they both agreed that she could help facilitate transactions given Madam Hwang’s advanced age.
They were made to sign some forms at the bank that day, she said.
When they didn’t hear from the bank after a few days, Madam Hsu called her mother’s relationship manager, and was told that their request was rejected.
She then asked if they could transfer all of Madam Hwang’s fixed deposits, when they matured, into the latter’s current account, but that request was also turned down.
The bulk of Madam Hwang’s money is held in fixed deposits.
A few days after their request to open the joint account, the relationship manager and another officer went to Madam Hwang’s house where she lives with a maid.
Many questions
They were there for 10 minutes, and asked Madam Hwang many questions, said Madam Hsu.
‘As my mother didn’t know them, she just kept saying ‘I don’t know’ to their questions,’ she added.
Mother and daughter then decided to close all the accounts amounting to $8.86million with the view of depositing the money at a different bank.
But when they went to close the accounts, Madam Hsu said she was separated from her mother, who was then interviewed by four bank officers, including the head of private banking.
After less than 10 minutes, Madam Hsu went in, repeated the instructions to close the accounts, and then left with her mother.
Madam Hsu and her lawyer subsequently wrote to the bank several times over the next three months asking for the closure of the accounts but to no avail.
Madam Hsu then wrote to the chairmen of both the bank and the Monetary Authority of Singapore seeking advice.
In mid-August, the bank responded, saying it wasn’t able to release the money as it had doubts about Madam Hwang’s mental capacity.
There was another shock in store when Madam Hwang and her daughter tried to withdraw money from her OCBC account in late August - all her accounts had been frozen.
Madam Hwang filed the suit in the High Court in August.
She is represented by Mr Andrew Ee from Andrew Ee & Co.
In its defence, the bank claimed that Madam Hwang does not have the mental capacity to make such important financial decisions independently.
It said that it was Madam Hsu who asked to open the joint account and to transfer the fixed deposit amounts into the account.
Further, when the two bank officers went to Madam Hwang’s house, they found her disoriented, and unable to remember things.
The bank, which is represented by Mr Adrian Wong and Mr Jansen Chow of Rajah & Tann, insists it is being cautious.
Mr Wong told The New Paper: ‘In the case of a bank learning that a customer may be mentally incapable, it is the law that all operations on the account must be stopped pending the establishment of an appropriate arrangement to deal with the situation.
‘This is only logical as any ‘instructions’ from a mentally incapable customer surely can’t be valid.’
At a hearing in chambers yesterday, the court ordered for Madam Hwang to undergo a psychiatric re-examination.
Mental status
She had been found in March to be suffering from mild dementia, which affects her short-term memory. But the evaluation found her general mental faculties intact, and that she was able to make decisions in her everyday life.
The court has given both parties seven days to agree on a medical expert, failing which the court will appoint one.
Madam Hsu was legally adopted when she was a year-old. Her adoptive father, who was a senior banker, died in 1987.
She said her mother had accumulated the money from a $3 million enbloc sale of a condominium apartment, and from encashing shares which she held.
‘Up to this day, I can’t understand how it ended up like that. It started out as something very simple,’ said Madam Hsu, who quit her job as a tour guide to deal with this matter.
Woman, 92, sues bank for freezing her account
But OCBC says it doubts she is mentally capable of managing her finances
By Selina Lum
21 November 2008
An elderly woman, accompanied by her adopted daughter, went to OCBC Bank in May, indicating that she wanted to close her account containing $8.8 million - but the bank would not let her.
The bank rejected her repeated requests to take out her money and froze her account, saying later that it has doubts about her mental capacity to manage her financial affairs independently.
Madam Hwang Cheng Tsu Hsu, a retired teacher, now 92, then sued the bank to get back her locked-up funds.
However, the bank said that, as prudent bankers, it was duty-bound by law to take reasonable steps to ensure that it acts only on valid instructions.
The bank’s position: It will comply with her instructions as soon as she is shown to be mentally capable.
Madam Hwang applied for summary judgment - asking the court to decide without the need for a full trial - but this was denied earlier this month.
OCBC then applied for a court order for Madam Hwang to be examined by a psychiatrist of its choice but she opposed this.
In a closed-door hearing on Wednesday, a Supreme Court assistant registrar directed both sides to agree on a psychiatrist within seven days or it will appoint one.
Madam Hwang’s lawyer, Mr. Andrew Ee, told The Straits Times she is appealing to the High Court against both decisions.
Mr. Ee said his client has already filed reports from a reliable psychiatrist to the court, which said she was mentally capable of managing her bank accounts.
In March, two months before she went to close her account, Madam Hwang was seen by a psychiatrist who assessed her to be fit enough to make a will despite suffering from mild dementia.
Mr. Ee said he will be making an urgent application to the court to seek the release of funds as Madam Hwang needs to pay for her monthly expenses.
The impasse between Madam Hwang and OCBC had its roots from a visit to the bank in May, when Madam Hwang and her adopted daughter, Madam Amy Hsu Ann Mei, 43, asked about opening a joint account. The bank said no.
Later that month, the women went to OCBC again, this time to close Madam Hwang’s account.
In a letter to Madam Hsu on Aug 15, OCBC raised doubts about Madam Hwang’s mental capacity. The bank said it will not accept further instructions on all her accounts until these concerns were addressed.
On Aug 29, Madam Hwang filed a suit against OCBC for breach of contract and asked that the bank be compelled to give her money back to her.
In its defence, OCBC said it had acted in line with the duty of care imposed on banks by law to withhold payment. Any reasonably prudent banker would have been put on notice, it said.
OCBC said the officer who attended to the women in May had felt uneasy as it was Madam Hsu, not Madam Hwang, who gave instructions to open a joint account.
The age difference between the women also raised red flags about whether Madam Hsu was Madam Hwang’s daughter, the bank said. Two bank employees who visited Madam Hwang’s home a few days later found her frail and disoriented.
She could not remember telling the bank to open a joint account, they said, and could not even recall visiting the bank. Madam Hwang also could not give consistent answers when asked about her family members and age, said OCBC.
The visit led the bank to believe she was mentally incapacitated. This was strengthened on her subsequent visit to the bank, when she could not give a lucid explanation as to why she was there.
Madam Hwang’s appeal is expected to be heard next week.
Post a Comment