Close to two-thirds of people believe local banks did not do enough to warn minibond investors of the risks involved, according to a poll released yesterday.
The results also showed 52.5 per cent of respondents had lost confidence in investing in financial products since the saga triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
The telephone survey, conducted by the Democratic Party late last month, interviewed 552 people on their views of the minibond saga.
Minibonds are a type of derivative investment marketed in Hong Kong by brokers or banks as a proxy investment in well-known companies.
Twenty-one banks and three brokers sold investors minibonds and related complicated derivatives worth a total of HK$15.7 billion issued or guaranteed by the now-failed Lehman Brothers. About 10,000 investors are affected.
The Democratic Party said some 3,000 investors had sought its help, involving investments totalling about HK$2 billion. Many investors, mostly retirees, claimed they had been misled by banks to believe that the minibonds were highly stable.
On Saturday, angry investors scuffled with staff at the Bank of China (Hong Kong) headquarters in Central after the bank refused to see them to listen to their complaints.