The High Court has ordered a Swiss  private bank to return US$2.34m lost through unauthorized forex transactions, reports the 11th June 2011 edition of The Straits Times (Give back customer’s US$2.34m, bank told). The customer’s client relationship officer made more than 160 unauthorized forex transactions, making losses of US$2.34m for the client and close to US$1m in fees for the bank in the process.

The client, a China national who applied to become a Singapore permanent resident through the Monetary Authority of Singapore Financial Investor Scheme (FIS), sued the bank over the losses after the bank denied liability due to two clauses, known as conclusive evidence clauses, in an agreement. These clauses place the responsibility of verifying bank statements and notifying the bank of any discrepancies on the client.

This was the first time that the clauses has been used by a bank to deny ...