Tuesday saw Singapore's central bank announcing ban on 10 financial firms from selling structured notes, for between six months and two years. The bank arrived on this decision after it found there were "various forms of non-compliance" with its notices and guidelines in the sale and marketing of notes linked to Lehman Brothers.

It was brought forward by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, via a statement, that it had instructed ABN Amro, DBS Bank Ltd., UOB KayHian, Malayan Banking Bhd and DMG & Partners Securities to not to deal in and deliver advice on structured notes for at least six months from July 1, or until the firms put in place measures to address problems identified in a MAS investigation, whichever is later.

Hong Leong Finance Ltd. has been banned by MAS from such practices for at least two years. A sum of nearly 107.3 million Singapore dollars (US$73.6 million) has been paid by the ten companies to settle claims from 3,904 investors arising from the sale of Lehman notes.

Hong Leong paid about S$57.6 million, the most among the financial institutions. It was found by the MAS, under its investigation that some of the institutions, that these institutions had been unsuccessful in including risk-rating assignments consistent with warnings in the prospectus and pricing statements; and had "not taken sufficient steps to ensure all financial advisory representatives were properly trained before marketing and selling the notes; and not properly ensured representatives had accurate and complete information about the notes."

The MAS concluded that in September 2008 Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, giving rise to the default or early deliverance of various credit-liked structured notes, many of which became worthless. Of these notes, nearly S$520 had been sold by the 10 institutions to almost 10,000 retail investors.