Time to look into an ombudsman office to act for retail investors

IF THE ultimate goal of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) committee looking into ways to rejuvenate the stock market is to shore up investor confidence, then they should look into a suggestion made about three years ago by the Society of Remisiers (SOR) which, in a letter to the media, called for the setting up of an ombudsman office to help retail investors who have suffered losses through corporate fraud or other irregularities.

That call was made soon after MAS imposed a civil penalty of S$12.6 million on commodities firm Noble Group for publishing misleading information in its financial statements from 2012 to 2016.

The financial penalty notwithstanding, “how will aggrieved investors seek recourse, especially retail investors who have neither the resources nor the expertise to do so”, SOR asked. “Thousands have lost substantial sums of money and some even their life savings, and are suffering in silence.’’