THE structured notes fiasco may have caused thousands to lose their investments but it was resolved fairly and without political pressure, said Trade Minister Lim Hng Kiang on Monday.

'While not all investors may accept the case-by-case approach, we believe it is the correct approach that is fair to the individual investor,' said Mr Lim, who is also deputy chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Financial institutions who sold the complex and eventually near-worthless products reviewed more than 5,000 complaints, offering compensation to more than two-thirds - with a quarter getting full compensation of their investment.

'The process has not been overly legalistic and is not subject to political pressure. This way we serve the interests of all parties, and also serve the wider public interest of growing Singapore's reputation as a credible and reliable international financial centre,' said Mr Lim.

Mr Lim was responding to questions raised in Parliament by MPs on Monday.

MP Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked if the MAS could have done more to supervise the financial institutions involved in the selling of the high risk structured notes. He also asked what else it could do to ensure a similar lapses by the financial institutions do not recur in the future.

Mr Lim said that MAS cannot replace the primary role of the senior management of financial institutions in terms of ensuring the controls and processes put in place to meet regulatory requirements.

'MAS does not, and cannot, micro-manage financial institutions in their operations, including the sale of structured products,' he said.

Mr Lim, however, assured MPs that MAS has reviewed the regulatory regime governing the sale and marketing of such products and that more will be done to strengthen the local regime, starting with a consultation paper issued last March.

'The proposals aim to promote more effective disclosure, strengthen fair dealing in the sale and advisory process, educate the investing public, and enhance MAS' powers to investigate and take regulatory action,' he said.

Read the full report in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.