Tuesday, October 28, 2008

DBS: Most of Lehman-linked notes valued at zero

DBS: Most of Lehman-linked notes valued at zero
Wed, Oct 29, 2008
AsiaOne

Most of the $360 million of structured notes linked to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. sold in Hong Kong and Singapore - including DBS High Notes 5 in Singapore and the Constellation series in Hong Kong - has been given a value of zero by DBS Group Holdings Ltd.

Bloomberg reports that Hong Kong investors were notified that the securities will be redeemed on or before October 31, while Singapore notes are expected to be redeemed on November 3. Letters are being sent to investors to inform them of the situation according to a Straits Times report.

In a statement posted on their website, DBS said that the credit redemption amount under the notes is worth "$0.00 per Note".

In reference to Structured Retail Notes Series 75 issued by Constellation Investment Ltd, DBS said: "The credit event redemption amount for the Notes has been calculated to be zero, and therefore no amounts are due and payable to the beholders of the Notes on the credit event redemption date. For the avoidance of doubt, no further payments will be made on the Notes after they have been redeemed."

Meanwhile, a DBS spokesman also told The Straits Times: 'Unfortunately the worst-case scenario has materialised and the majority of High Notes 5 investors will not be receiving anything back.'

This follows a statement posted on the bank's website on October 22 wherein DBS CEO Richard Stanley said, "Regrettably, our initial expectations of the worst-case scenario whereby investors will lose their entire principal investment amount is likely to materialise."

Only two of the series sold in Hong Kong were given a monetary value. A Bloomberg report says that Series 36 notes linked to Lehman's $1.5 billion 6.625 percent bonds maturing in 2012 are worth $435.36 each, it said. Investors in series 37 will get HK$2,620.92 ($338).

The bank estimated that customer compensation in Hong Kong and Singapore will total $70 to $80 million. It says it will not gain from this process, which they had started last week.

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