Many lessons will surely come out of this wreckage. As it is, MAS has already launched a review of the way structured products are marketed and sold here.

Banks have come out to say they will compensate consumers if investigations show there was mis-selling.

The central bank has also asked the chief executive officers of the various institutions to personally chair internal review panels to study customers' complaints.

The panels should take no longer than four weeks to decide in each case. Those still unsatisfied can go to the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre, which has agreed to hear all 'deserving cases'. (It usually deals only with claims not exceeding $50,000).

Look at the losses in perspective, MAS chairman Goh Chok Tong advised at a Hari Raya dinner last night.

'The global financial crisis came without warning, like a tsunami,' he said.

'Banks have collapsed. Stock prices have plunged. Millions of people in the world, not just in Singapore, have lost money. So we must be realistic in our expectation of recovering all our losses.'

Hopefully, those who have had their fingers burnt will take heed.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on October 19, 2008.