DBS bank HK made a blunder

• goh meng seng

  5 Oct 04, 18:22

  This is a Press release made in Singapore Exchange
  
  JOINT MEDIA STATEMENT BY DBS BANK (HONG KONG) AND
  JONES LANG LASALLE
  
  Hong Kong, October 5, 2004 - An accident occurred over the weekend while DBS Bank (Hong Kong) was renovating and expanding its Mei Foo branch in Kowloon.
  
  As a result, 83 safe deposit boxes in current use were accidentally removed and destroyed, together with 837 empty safe deposit boxes. The incident is a matter of great regret and DBS (HK) has spent a large part of time since Sunday recovering the contents of the boxes, contacting affected customers, and notifying the authorities.
  
  DBS (HK) fully recognises the significance to its customers of the items involved, both financial and personal.
  
  At this stage, DBS (HK) and Jones Lang Lasalle, property consultant and manager for DBS Group, do not believe this incident is anything other than a human error during the renovation process.
  
  We have given clear assurances to customers that DBS (HK) and Jones Lang Lasalle accept responsibility for thoroughly investigating the accident. An
  
  Page 1 of 2
  
  international firm that specialises in safe deposit box installation and removal had been hired to manage the removal, and our investigation will review that firmÂ’s actions in connection with this matter.
  
  DBS (HK) will honour its ultimate responsibilities to affected customers. It is committed to taking appropriate remedial actions to ensure that such an unfortunate incident does not happen again.
  
  DBS (HK) wants to assure all customers that this is an entirely isolated incident. All other safe deposit boxes and banking services at Mei Foo and other branches are not affected.
  
  About DBS
  Headquartered in Singapore, DBS is one of the largest financial services groups in Asia. The largest bank in Singapore and the fifth largest banking group in Hong Kong as measured by assets, DBS has dominant positions in consumer banking, treasury and markets, asset management, securities brokerage, equity and debt fund raising. Beyond the anchor markets of Singapore and Hong Kong, DBS serves corporate, institutional and retail customers through its operations in Thailand, Indonesia, India and The Philippines. In China, the bank has branches and representative offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Fuzhou, Tianjin and Dongguan. The Bank's credit ratings are among the highest in the Asia-Pacific region. More information about DBS Group Holdings and DBS Bank can be obtained from our website www.dbs.com.
  
  For more information, please contact:
  
  Catherine Ong Gloria Chiu
  Managing Director & Head Assistant Vice President
  Group Communications Group Communications (HK)
  Tel: (65) 96970007 Tel: (852) 93080088
  Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
  
  Page 2 of 2
  
• paperchicken

  5 Oct 04, 20:32

  Its on Chn 8 news.
• robertteh

  5 Oct 04, 22:54

  This is not the first time DBS had made this kind of mistakes. The bigger the companies the more vulberable to mistakes. What are their plans to improve process management.
• PatrickLTH

  5 Oct 04, 22:57

  Oh dear. DBS Share will drop tomorrow. Sit tight and see how it drops.
  
  Any body dare to guess how much it will drop tomorrow morning.
• GrimR

  5 Oct 04, 23:02

  Originally posted by PatrickLTH:

  Oh dear. DBS Share will drop tomorrow. Sit tight and see how it drops.
  
  Any body dare to guess how much it will drop tomorrow morning.

  Huh? U mean that this incident will affect shares?
• PatrickLTH

  5 Oct 04, 23:23

  Originally posted by GrimR:

  Huh? U mean that this incident will affect shares?

  Tomorrow watch the DBS share price for the answer loh.
• goh meng seng

  6 Oct 04, 00:14

  Yes. According to the reports in HK, DBS HK is liable to compensate its clients, with NO UPPER LIMITS; meaning, if the client say they have lost HK$1million, they will have to pay HK$1million.
  
  Goh Meng Seng
  
  

  Originally posted by GrimR:

  Huh? U mean that this incident will affect shares?

• laurence82

  6 Oct 04, 00:26

  holy bak chor mee!
• foga

  6 Oct 04, 00:28

  holy bak chor mee
  
  copy cat spotted
  B2 u cannot holy hee yuan mee , holy wantan mee?
  
  

  Originally posted by laurence82:

  holy bak chor mee!

• laurence82

  6 Oct 04, 00:30

  Originally posted by foga:

  holy bak chor mee
  
  copy cat spotted
  B2 u cannot holy hee yuan mee , holy wantan mee?
  
  

  ok
  
  holy wantan mee!
• Qitai

  6 Oct 04, 07:44

  holy yuan mee
• The Barracuda

  6 Oct 04, 10:34

  Originally posted by goh meng seng:

  Yes. According to the reports in HK, DBS HK is liable to compensate its clients, with NO UPPER LIMITS; meaning, if the client say they have lost HK$1million, they will have to pay HK$1million.
  
  Goh Meng Seng
  
  

  Its covered by insurance.
• jusgal

  6 Oct 04, 10:36

  very bad mistake
• Haze|

  6 Oct 04, 10:38

  even if it's covered by insurance.. the reputation will be affected.
  
  who wld have imagine even keeping stuffs in bank's safe dep box will be unsafe~~~
  to the pple who lost their belongings.. it may not just be oni cash.. it may be items that meant a lot to them.
  
  
• PatrickLTH

  6 Oct 04, 10:39

  Share had droped 20 cents.
  
  Yes, the monetary lost is covered by insurance but the REPUTATION is not covered.
• PatrickLTH

  6 Oct 04, 10:43

  Future insurance premium for DBS will go up.
• goh meng seng

  6 Oct 04, 10:48

  According to the news report here in HK (hey, what did they report back in Singapore?), insurance does not cover the items locked inside safe! This is basically because the insurance company could not possibly know what's inside thes safe boxes.
  
  It means that DBS HK will be fully liable to compensation to its clients. Of course, DBS HK requests its clients to "prove" the values of the things they have deposited in their safe boxes... but I don't think that is going to work. AT the mean time, there is a uproar in HK over the incident. "Experts" here claim that DBS HK should honour whatever claims their clients made, with or without proof. IT is very difficult to prove the value when some are invaluable stuff with sentimental values attached. If the clients overclaimed, it could be deal by the police for false declarations.
  
  Goh Meng Seng
  
  

  Originally posted by PatrickLTH:

  Future insurance premium for DBS will go up.

• goh meng seng

  6 Oct 04, 10:53

  Try this link:
  
  http://hk.news.yahoo.com/041005/10/15c2r.html
  
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• sgdiehard

  6 Oct 04, 11:21

  Originally posted by PatrickLTH:

  Share had droped 20 cents.
  
  Yes, the monetary lost is covered by insurance but the REPUTATION is not covered.

  Lucky I don't own any DBS shares.
• tkw88

  6 Oct 04, 11:39

  I happen to be in HK. This has become headline news in all media (TV, radio, newspapers).
  
  As mentioned in the DBS statement, the particular branch is undergoing renovation. The bank had intended to discard some not-in-use safe deposit boxes as scrap metal. Somehow, 83 safe deposit boxes with valuables in them were inadvertently discarded as well. Apparently, this mistake was detected only when the deposit boxes were crushed, along with all the items in them.
  
  The affected owners were very angry & emotional when interviewed by media. The safe deposit boxes contain items which are invaluable and inreplaceable in the perspective of the owners -- e.g. jewelleries inherited from parents or in-laws.
  
  It is not inconceivable that DBS HK will end up losing many of its customers to its competitors. The financial compensation to the owners is immaterial compared to the potential risk of loss of business/customers. I am not a legal professional, but I think there is also a legal risk that the customers may choose to sue the bank for breach of contract or professional negligence.
• oldbreadstinks

  6 Oct 04, 17:04

  and who's the scrape goat this time?
• paperchicken

  6 Oct 04, 17:06

  Originally posted by oldbreadstinks:

  and who's the scrape goat this time?

  Singapore govt ?
• Xprobe

  6 Oct 04, 17:12

  Aiya, whats the big deal. Why DBS is there is that they need a vehicle to spearhead into China. Between this blunder and the main objective, it is nothing. Dont count on share price down or anything that has permanent damage.
• sbst275

  6 Oct 04, 17:13

  Best sia.... Who is that stupid fool that did that?
• paperchicken

  6 Oct 04, 18:35

  Latest News | Updated Oct 6, 12.15 pm (Singapore time)
  
  DBS to repay customers in HK safe boxes fiasco
  
  HONG KONG - Embarrassed bosses at Singapore-based DBS Bank (Hong Kong) say they will repay customers for their losses after 83 safe boxes from a bank branch filled with valuables were removed on Saturday by a contractor during renovations, then dumped and crushed as scrap metal.
  
  Workers scrambled to recover cash, crucial documents and smashed jewellery from the scrap heap, but DBS said it's too early to say what its liabilities will be. Local media have predicted it will come to millions of dollars.
  
  'It's a very unfortunate and regrettable incident,' DBS spokesman Catherine Ong said on Wednesday.
  
  She acknowledged that the bank might face difficulties in ascertaining exactly what had been inside the boxes.
  
  'Of course we don't want to invite any fraudulent claims,' she told The Associated Press by telephone. 'If we feel some claims are dodgy, we will ask a lot of questions.'
  
  The bank believes the mix-up was the result of human error, with no foul play suspected, she said. But after the bank resolves matters with customers it plans a full internal investigation into what went wrong. She said it was too early to say if anyone would be fired.
  
  The 83 boxes were removed, along with 837 empty ones, as the bank was expanding the size of a local branch and replacing older, small safe boxes with new, larger ones. -- AP