The latest minibonds offer drew mixed reactions. Some investors said they will accept it reluctantly after fighting for more than two years while others still want 100 percent compensation plus interest.
The Alliance of Lehman Brothers Victims, which represents 7,000 of the 31,000 local minibond holders, said the offer does not adequately reflect the wrongdoing of the banks.
Alliance chairman Chan Ho-wai said: ``It's about social justice. Banks of such a giant scale should compensate customers as they did something wrong.''
He added: ``We will not accept it unless banks prove that they did not mislead us into buying the risky minibonds.''
Chan said the alliance will review the development before a press conference this afternoon to state reasons for snubbing the offer.
Disgruntled investor Daisy Lee Wai- king, in her 50s, lost about HK$1.2 million after buying minibonds from the Bank of China in 2008.
Lee said she was ``forced'' to accept the buyback offer in 2009 that allowed banks to recover 60 percent of the value of their Lehman Brothers products.
But a woman named Liu, who invested HK$400,000, said she will accept the offer ``reluctantly'' after years of fighting for the payout.
``I am not familiar with any legal procedure. I went to the police and visited many places in recent years to fight for the money. I'm already exhausted.''
In July 2009, the repayment offer of 16 banks worth a total of HK$5.2 billion was accepted by nearly 96 percent of Lehman minibond holders, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
While a probe by a Legislative Council subcommittee into the minibond fiasco is still under way, members said the new package is good news for those who stand to recover most of their investment. Democratic Party lawmaker Kam Nai-wai believes most investors will find it attractive, though it will also trigger a new round of litigation by those receiving only 85 percent.
Raymond So Wai-man, dean of the School of Business at Hang Seng Management College, said it is a satisfactory offer and investors' losses are being minimized.
He said some can almost fully recover their investment on the high percentage offered due to the improved value of underlying collateral as the financial markets have recovered from the crisis that took out Lehman Brothers.
