Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Gordon Chen (陳樹) yesterday said the FSC will assist domestic investors in structured notes linked to ailing Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc to reach terms with banks before taking legal action.
Chen told a legislative session yesterday that if banks are found to have been negligent in sales of the notes, they will have to shoulder responsibility. He also vowed to handle investors’ complaints.
Lin Tung-liang (林棟樑), deputy director of the commission’s banking bureau, yesterday added that it would use the Banking Law’s Article 62 to impose penalties or administrative punishment on banks found negligent in disclosing necessary risk and information for sales of their structured note investments to investors.
He urged investors to lodge their complaints and present their cases to the Bankers’ Association of the Republic of China (銀行公會) and the Securities and Futures Investors’ Protection Center (投資人保護中心).
As of yesterday, 300 investors who have put down more than NT$1 million (US$30.5 million) on Lehman Brothers-linked investments had filed their complaints to the banking bureau, while another 200, who have put down less than NT$1 million on such investments, petitioned the bankers’ association.
Lin’s comments came after more than 200 investors showed up outside the commission to protest its perceived inaction.
They claimed that banks including Taishin International Bank (台新銀行), Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商銀) and Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) had sold such investments even though it was clearly stipulated that such “notes may not be sold or offered” in Taiwan.
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