Widow claims bank caused her to lose her investment

Johnny Xerri

Feb 9th, 07:43

In many cases the banks employ people who do not have the right qualification to advise people re their investments. SImply because the advisor has a CEFA (certficate in financial advice) this means nothing. CEFA is more of a legal/marketing certificate and CEFA holders are no experts in financial markets, economic underpinnings and future financial assets value projections.

From here I challange the banks to point out how many of their employees especially financial advisors are; Economists, Accountants...and how many of their managers hold management degree (MBA) in addition to a professional degree (example an economist with an MBA vs those who climbed the experience ladder).

Many financial advisors are simply sales persons with sales targets selling products that generate most commission to the bank.

Louis Caruana

Feb 9th, 00:30

please can any one,enlighten me as regarding this institution as mysterious the elusive APS BANK...who does it belong to??,who runs it ?? who appoints directors ?? who are they ?? what is there wages ?? what does it really represents?? does this mysterious institution ever shows its history?? where does its profits goes?? who owns it ?? do they ever shows there structure...why do they compete?? and where does the profits end in reality and what does APS in reality stand for...I mean why did them did not use a regular name instead of hiding under this ghost-name.....Ah wise men say when you nourish the unwise you become powerful.....like the vatican......louis...st. julians

James Tyrrell

Feb 8th, 23:53

High risk bonds are a way of either making or losing a lot of money for those who can afford it but they are certainly not the sort of thing that an old lady's money should be invested in. I hope she takes them to the cleaners.

Zagroma Savrene

Feb 8th, 22:36

blah blah she wouldn't be crying if her investment went well. Your investment failed, get over it.

CHRIS TABONE

Feb 8th, 22:07

For 10 years following closely such things (both locally and worldwide) on a daily basis I have something to say.....If you are not VERY FAMILIAR with such things one should stay completely away from such things. No matter how much nice one can picture it good, There are cases where one ends up losing up to 99% of your holdings...ie you get nothing back, just nothing. One has to buy when there's blood on the street, and you would always end up being the blood on the street rather than a buyer at the exact moment. And guess what, you would surely end up burning your fingers, if there would be any fingers left......please stay out

Alfred Grech

Feb 8th, 21:48

"Mrs Cachia said that she had been clear to the bank that she did not want to invest in high risk bonds"

Perhaps wasn't that the exact reason why the Bank promoted / suggested high rated and lower risk Bonds (AAA or AA or A)?

Does she know the difference between low risk ("safeguard the capital") and no risk (only cash unless you're stolen)?

How can she (or the court) already know the outcome of the liquidation process of both firms which tens of thousands are still waiting around the globe? How much will they get at maturity and what % will they actually postpone?


Billions are invested monthly in Bonds, Shares, Property, Commodities & Funds and only the complaints make it to the media..........those who had decent to big gains, even in our local market know that the reality is totally different from the perception (of the last few yrs). Having said that everybody has to feel comfortable with the assets he owns but that does not mean having only Deposits for life (given that the value of money over the years / decades would erode your wealth anyways)!

John Cassar

Feb 8th, 21:45

Hello everyone.

Remember MFSA vs BOV's la Vallette fund. It was Lehman Bros.....

I understand that some dolts defend the church even when rationale becomes irrational. However what goes for the Bov goose goes for the Aps gander.

Ryan Sammut

Feb 8th, 21:44

No one sues the bank if his investments double... people should be more careful when investing and don't blame others for their fault. It is true they trust a more experienced person to consult them, but if you don't want the risk just keep your money at the bank.

Charles Spiteri

Feb 8th, 21:10

There was at least one similar case in the UK where an eighty year old woman took Lloyds Plc to court and the judge ruled in her favour and Lloyds and to refund all the money plus expenses. Bear in mind that advisers and banks all give advice based on what they know and to sell their products they have a way how to go around the 'bad stuff' of the investment and just fill you in on the good stuff and tell you what you may wish to hear and not what you need to hear. Same thing happened to my parents and when I confronted the bank employee she just had no response. The MFSA as regulator should be enforcing proper rules with regards to investment as hundreds of people are being conned and fooled into buying into bad investments.

Thomas C. Cassar

Feb 8th, 19:34

F'Malta kullhadd irid isir sinjur malajr pero jippretendu li ma jkunx hemm riskji. Mbaghad mmorru nibku l-Qorti.

cesco di luigi

Feb 8th, 19:08

2 things to be learned
1. If you don't understand it ...don't invest in it. Would you trust some one you don't know with 100 euro to do your supermarket shopping? Neither would I. Let alone 25 000.

2. The credit agencies cannot be trusted either.

Ever heard of a matress?

M Borg

Feb 8th, 18:56

Moody's Standard & poor's and Fitch , the big three rating agencies have come under fire since the 2007 collapse in the subprime home mortgage market for issuing rosy ratings on a plethora of securities that are now considered to be junk.

The Obama administration and Congress are exploring various reform proposals.
This is a part of what went on at a Congressional hearing in America after the collapse of Lehman Brothers :--

" At the hearing today, the exchange between Speier and the agency chiefs was particularly contentious.

"You had rated AIG and Lehman Brothers as AAA, AA minutes before they were collapsing. After they did fail, did you take any action against those analysts who had rated them?" Speier asked. "Did you fire them? Did you suspend them? Did you take any actions against those who had put that kind of a remarkable grade on products that were junk?"

If this bonds had such a high rating how can anyone blame the bank ? I do know that no one likes losing money but to say that it is the bank's fault is not right. How could they know that the ratings were not real ?.

B Attard

Feb 8th, 18:45

Dawn is-sitwazzjonijiet qed ikomplu jgibu l-incertezza.
Hafna nies spiccaw flushom 'misruqa' bil-pulit f'dawn l-ahhar snin.

P. Ciantar

Feb 8th, 18:32

what ? Any bond has a risk Mrs Cachia if you did not know that , than its your own lack of knowledge . All bonds are cautious and can loose capital be it govt corporate AAA bonds ..... even a savings account has a risk.....if you are risk averse put them under the bedsheet as even property has gone down. You are loosing your time and money

Andrew schembri

Feb 8th, 17:42

So what? This woman will not win her case against this Bank, she of course has the right to go to court.
We had stuff with this bank labelled 'Capital Guaranteed" and when the whole thing collapsed as it is apt to do with APS no capital ever materialised we were robbed of it. Perhaps someone could also enlighten me as to the true meaning of a "financial adviser or is the title open to any tom dick or harry??

Ivan Mizzi

Feb 8th, 17:35

In 2008, the international rating agencies rated Lehman Brothers as AAA. "caveat emptor". In any case, I don't want to discourage this old lady, but the church said openly that it is not going to pay a penny to the orphans abused by the paedophile priests even after they were found guilty in court..........

Peter Murray

Feb 8th, 17:32

It would also appear that that the Church's bank now worships at the altar of greed and deception.Who should we pray too?

Alan Kay

Feb 8th, 17:20

As ever some ill-informed comments are insensitive at best.

The fundamental this lady should establish is, at the time of the completion of her personal financial review [fact-find] assuming one was completed prior to investment, "What is your attitude to risk?"

She appears from her letter to have been "cautious" as opposed to a balanced or adventurous view.

If so, exposure to high risk bonds is innappropriate advice and contrary to her attitude as risk averse.

No amount of research or market study can alter this basic fundamental.

ronald mifsud

Feb 8th, 17:17

Golden rule: if you have no financial knolwdge do no invest even if you have the money! Otherwise that is what you get!

James Pace

Feb 8th, 17:03

@ Ms. D. Galea.

You don't know much about investment do you?

investment wise "safe" means that there is less risk not that you are 100% sure you cannot loose money.

Moreover she did not loose the money and if the investment starts going upward again and she gets more that the 25 000 Euro she invested... what will she do??? who will she blame??? will she refuse the profit and continue the case against the bank????

If you do not agree with the rules of the game just don't play....

carmel callus

Feb 8th, 16:39

Ms Galea, mhux aħjar tistenna biex tara n-naħa l-oħra tal-munita qabel ma tikkummenta!

mark johnson

Feb 8th, 16:30

If the value had tripled would we be reading this?

Thought not.

Ms.D. Galea

Feb 8th, 16:09

One would have expected a bank especially one with a Christian concience, to exercise prudence when investing the savings of this poor old widow.
Investing in high risk bonds is tantemount to gambling in my humble opinion.

Alexander Farrugia

Feb 8th, 16:03

Ma nafx kemm se jirnexxielha tirbah dan il-kaz. Qabel ma tinvesti, it-termini u l-kundizzjonijiet dejjem ghandhom jigu moqrija sewwa. U kif jghidu, il-passat mhux garanzija tal-futur. Fl-ahhar mill-ahhar, investiment dejjem jinvolvi riskju, xi ftit jew wisq.

carmel muscat

Feb 8th, 15:54

il lajs u jajdu li ma hawnx flus flus veru ma hawnx fl art imma god djar hawn flus ta hudu mil lis stocks tal gvern inbellu kollha kullhadt igor hawn malta u ma jinqosna xejn

Bogdan Cilia

Feb 8th, 15:17

Never invest at high risk !! and more than that! Never listen to what the bank or anyone else tells you to do! If you want to invest, study, read, and research and most of all .... observe the Market!

Andrei Lugovoi

Feb 8th, 14:48

what?