Woman sues Citibank over $844,000 forex investment losses

Feb 9, 2007

Woman sues Citibank over $844,000 forex investment losses

Indonesian housewife claims she was given negligent investment advice

By K. C. Vijayan

STUNG by about US$551,000 (S$844,000) in losses, an Indonesian housewife is taking Citibank to court, blaming negligent investment advice from the United States banking giant.

But Citibank counters that Madam Catherine Wenas was already experienced in foreign currency investments by the time she opened the foreign currency trading accounts at the centre of the dispute in August 1999.

According to documents filed in court, she claims to have told the bank's representative at a meeting in Jakarta then that the funds were meant for her daily use, to support the education of her two children and to build the deposit.

It’s all about risk! Such a shame, just imagine if she had invested in slightly safer instruments like Cash Saver savings plan this would be her projected returns.

Single investment of $844,000 the projected returns would be $ 973,681 over 5 years, Projected Investment Rate of Return upon maturity is 2.90% p.a. (after deductions). This gives about $25K yearly returns, definitely not a lavish lifestyle, but good enough to feed herself and her two children.

Also placing so much cash on a single instrument is not wise. Diversification, prudent planning and good risk management is the way to protect and manage your assets.

Learning from mistakes is a costly affair and definitely not the way to go! Contact your reliable needs planner today!