A daughter of a late Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing chairman yesterday lost her HK$80 million claim against HSBC over complex high-risk financial products she says she was misled into buying.
The Court of First Instance ruled that Selina Kwok Wai-hing, 63, the daughter of well-known stockbroker Mickey Mok Ying-kie, was responsible for the risks she willingly took when buying the accumulators and equity-linked notes with HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) between 2003 and 2007. Mok died in 2001 aged 92.
Mr Justice Anselmo Reyes ruled that Kwok could not plead that she was financially unsophisticated and secure compensation from the bank because she had signed documents to acknowledge that she was aware of the risk involved.
'I do not have the impression that she was the 'helpless housewife' which she attempted to portray in court,' the judge wrote.
Kwok had claimed that the bank 'induced' her into buying the structured products even though she only had a medium risk tolerance and was not a sophisticated investor.
She had told the court she was shocked to discover in late 2007 that her financial exposure far exceeded her assets and that there was a possibility of her going bankrupt.