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Many innocent members of the public have been cheated by the unscrupulous bankers who sold Minibonds, Pinnacle notes, High Notes and other bank securities or products.

Following the rally at Hong Lim park, all people got was another bill of $100 to hire the services of a lawyer to lobby banks who sold the securities to return people their hard-earned money. Perhaps more could and should be done by the parties involved, especially the institutions who were distributors of the bond. A large portion of the responsibility also lies with them...

The basis of suing rests heavily on the issue of misrepresentation. The problem is whether bankers and financial advisors have made a statement that influenced a reasonable person to make a particular decision. However, this is very very hard to determine. Usually, the law will rule in favour most probably of the elderly and retirees as these are the group of people who suffer the greatest from this fiasco. How about others who lost tens of thousands but are neither retirees or elderly? I wonder what will happen. Also, the authorities have agreed to focus their energies on assisting this group of people. Hopefully, more can be done for all the victims involved in this fiasco. It probably will not jeopardize the viability of the banking industry and may even help restore investors' confidence in the banking industry - that they are able to solve their own problems without interference by outside bodies.

Sometimes I wonder: Is the regulation of the banking industry enough? Why are there double standards in certain legal issues? For stores, misrepresentation is a serious issue and many people are wary of it. What about bankers and people who sell securities and what about those people who are only interested in their commission at the expense of their clients' life savings?

More consideration should be given to the regulation of the banking industry. Singapore aspires to become the financial hub for Asia. However, at the same time, perhaps it should not forget the welfare of the people, who are the pillars of the country. Especially in moments of crisis, we need the support of people to tide the country over. Not much action has been taken so far to help these victims at the moment. I really hope that much more can be done. I believe that it is probably not really beneficial to let society become more and more stratified...

Hopefully more will be done soon!