The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued the following statement today:

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) welcomes the announcement by the three partners of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP appointed as receivers for the Minibond notes, and HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore) Limited, the trustee for the notes, that they have reached a settlement agreement with Lehman Brothers Special Financing Inc. (LBSF), the swap counterparty for the notes.

This is an important development which resolves the legal complexities that had prevented the earlier unwinding of the notes and gives noteholders greater certainty that they will be able to receive the remaining value of their notes.

The obligations of the trustee and the receivers in this situation are to act in the interest of noteholders. The trustee and receivers have kept MAS informed during the settlement negotiations. We understand that they have considered the matter thoroughly and are both satisfied that the settlement and liquidation of the underlying collateral are in the best interest of noteholders.

The settlement with LBSF does not affect any claims investors are making against the financial institutions (FIs) from which they bought the notes.

Investors who accepted partial settlement offers as part of the dispute resolution process by the FI or the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre would have retained a portion of the notes, and will get to keep the residual value arising from those notes. Investors who accepted full settlement offers would have received 100% of their principal investment amount.

These investors will not receive any residual value as they would have transferred the notes to the FI.