Regulators and banks reach buyback agreement on Minibonds

Concluding an investigation which began in September 2008, the banks will now be obliged to make an offer to repurchase all outstanding Minibonds from customers at 60% of the value of the original investment for investors under 65, or at 70% for clients above 65 on July 1 2009. Any coupon payments already made to investors can be kept. However, the repurchase does not constitute an admission of liability on the part of the distributing banks.

The regulatory bodies have decreed that once banks