SINGAPORE'S ruling on investment products linked to Lehman Brothers has given hope to investors in Hong Kong.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said 58 per cent of complainants, or 2,974 investors, will get a full or partial refund from the financial institution which sold them the products.

Of this total, 43 per cent - or 1,282 - will be offered full compensation.

'Almost all elderly investors with little income, little formal education and little investment experience have been offered full or partial settlement,' the MAS statement said.

Investors in Hong Kong hope its government will be pressured to speed up the handling of their complaints about sales of similar investment products, the South China Morning Post reported.

The MAS said Lehman minibond programme notes worth $508 million were issued. Of the total issue, $375m was sold to about 8,000 retail investors through nine distributors.

Hong Kong resident Chan Hong-yuk, 63, who invested about HK$1.2 million ($230,000) in minibonds, said he hoped the local government would follow suit.

He said: 'It seems the Singaporean government is willing to help the victims but our government ignored us. Now I feel a bit more encouraged. I thought I might lose all the investment.'

Another investor, housewife Ms Yan, who bought minibonds, said she hoped the Hong Kong government would follow Singapore's example.

The 40-year-old said: 'We took to the streets a few times but the government seemed to be dragging its feet. If the Singaporean government has assumed its responsibility and looked into problematic sales, the Hong Kong government should do something.'

Added Mr Ng Siu-shin, who also invested in the same products: 'It shows Hong Kong how another government is working.'

Minibonds are not corporate bonds, but consist of high-risk credit-linked derivatives. They are marketed as a proxy investment in well-known companies.

This article was first published in The New Paper on January 18, 2008.