Dear Editor,

I refer to "Educating the investor: The days of caveat emptor may be over for complex structured products", (Today, 4 February 2010).

MAS agrees that some speed in implementing enhanced safeguards for the sale of investment products would benefit retail investors. Banks that are members of the Association of Banks in Singapore have already put in place some of the enhanced measures.  These include prohibiting bank tellers at bank branches from referring customers to representatives for the purchase of investment products, implementing enhanced due diligence for new products and introducing cooling off periods for structured products. 

MAS is also restricting the use of "capital protected", "principal protected" and any other derivatives of these terms for new investment products being offered to retail investors. While proceeding to effect our proposals in legislation, MAS is actively encouraging financial institutions to put in place the proposed safeguards as a matter of good practice when conducting business with retail customers. We consider this to be part of the obligation of their Boards and senior management to deliver fair dealing outcomes to their customers.  

Angelina Fernandez
Director, Communications
MAS