Maybank, Hong Leong Finance and DBS will pay compensation with the 'highly vulnerable', including the elderly and less educated, heading the queue.

And those who do not fall into this category also had hopeful news on Wednesday when the MAS announced that two international institutions may take over the Minibond programme and let them run their course.

In a day of fast-moving events, the unified response by the banks to the compensation issue was led by Maybank.

It said that it will 'give priority to vulnerable customers and to take full responsibility in cases where the product was clearly inappropriate given the customer's profile and circumstances'.

This refers to the mis-selling of the risky product to people such as retirees.

Hong Leong Finance followed suit moments later, saying it will 'purchase Lehman Minibond programme notes from its elderly and less well-educated customers who meet the two conditions'.

These are: Main account holders must have been 62 years or older at the time of investing and they should not have an education level higher than primary school.

In joint accounts, neither investor can have a post-primary school education.

Then DBS Group Holdings stated that it has found 'a number of cases did not meet the standards DBS upholds and the bank will be compensating these customers' with effect from Thursday.

It said the move could involve paying out $70 to $80 million.

There was no indication from any of the institutions about how many investors will be affected and neither Hong Leong or Maybank mentioned how much money was involved.

About 10,000 people here here put cash into the products - DBS High Notes 5 and Minibonds Series 5 and 6 - that were linked to failed US investment bank, Lehman Brothers.

Wednesday night's move by the three institutions came after weeks of high-profile protests and emotional meetings by affected investors, including many retirees who had lost much of their life savings.

Their calls for compensation were echoed by MAS managing director Heng Swee Keat last week when he urged banks to do the right thing.

Last night's news was greeted with relief by investors, who heard about the developments only when The Straits Times contacted them.

Mrs Ng Ai Hua, 58, who bought Minibonds from Hong Leong Finance, said: 'I am so relieved to hear this, thank you so much for telling me.'

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.