The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) Wednesday announced that it has required DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd to carry out a thorough investigation into the recent destruction of 83 rented safe deposit boxes at its Mei Foo branch.

This investigation is to cover both the incident itself and any implications that the case may have for the operations and controls of the bank's safe deposit boxes generally and include any remedial actions that may be necessary in the light of the lessons learned.

The HKMA will take into account the outcome of this investigation in determining what, if any, further supervisory action may be warranted.

The HKMA also notes that the bank has announced Wednesday its plans for compensating customers who have suffered losses as a result of the destruction of the safe deposit boxes, including a one-off ex gratia payment to be made to all affected customers in addition to the full settlement of claims.

The HKMA expects the bank to carry out its plans for arranging full and final settlement of claims as expeditiously as possible.

"Satisfaction of legitimate customer claims for damage and reimbursement for losses must be a first priority for the bank," an HKMA spokesperson said.

In a related development, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Henry Tang said Wednesday that "we are surprised by the incident regarding DBS Bank. We viewed it as a serious incident that should not have happened. Unfortunately it happened."

He said according to the Code of Banking Practice and HKMA's Guidance Note, if there are any acts of omission of error, the bank will have to handle the complaint and respond to the complaint as soon as possible, and to offer a fair compensation for the error or act of omission.

Tang added that "we have already asked the DBS Bank to investigate this matter as soon as possible and to give us a report."

Source: Xinhua