The Lehman Minibonds Crisis in Hong Kong: Lessons for Plain Language Risk Disclosure
UNSW Law Journal, Vol. 32, No. 2, 2009
41 Pages Posted: 1 Jun 2010
Date Written: May 31, 2010
Abstract
The trigger for this article was the crisis caused by the collapse of an investment product arranged by Lehman Brothers Asia Limited and marketed in Hong Kong under the name ‘Minibonds’. As outlined in Part III below, this product proved popular among retail investors, many of whom incurred substantial losses as a result of the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and companies associated with it in September 2008. The crisis sparked investigations by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (‘SFC’) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (‘HKMA’), each of which issued a report on the crisis at the end of 2008.
Keywords: minibonds, investment, Hong Kong
JEL Classification: K00, K10, K22
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation