Negligence or seller's remorse? Woman and hubby sue ex-banking relationship manager

A Taiwan-born Singaporean businesswoman and her Canadian husband have sued their former banking relationship manager, alleging that she was negligent for failing to monitor the prices of certain shares, which resulted in financial losses.

- Selina Lum Senior Law Correspondent

Ms Fiona Lee Hsueh Ching claimed that Ms Loh Kia Hui, who was then at Swiss bank Julius Baer, had advised her to sell her shares in Toronto-listed Lithium Americas Corp (LAC) at C$153 apiece in 2017.

Ms Lee said that Ms Loh, whom she regarded as a close friend, had told her that she could earn a greater profit by making short-term trades of the stock instead of holding on to her shares.

The businesswoman said she agreed to sell the 198,600 shares after Ms Loh promised to monitor the stock price and to inform her when it fell below the target price of C$1 so that she could buy shares for short-term trading.

Two months after the sale, LAC shares were consolidated at a 5:1 ratio, which meant each share would be worth five times as much.

In her defence, Ms Loh denied giving the alleged advice and making the alleged promises.

Her lawyers contended that Ms Lee was a savvy investor who had “a serious case of seller’s remorse” and was trying to blame Ms Loh for her own decisions.

Ms Lee and her husband did not sue Julius Baer, but Ms Loh brought her former employer into the lawsuit as a third party to indemnify her against the damages or the legal costs, depending on the outcome.