The Legislative Council is expected to pass a motion today to invoke special statutory authority to probe the Lehman Brothers minibond saga.

"We believe invoking the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance will help clarify the responsibility problem in the incident and perfect the financial monitoring system," said Tam Yiu-ching, chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), which pledged its unanimous support of the motion.

He said the decision was in line with public expectations.

The party was approached by about 200 Lehman minibond holders on Monday, all pleaing for the party to support the resolution. Some even knelt in front of the vice chairwoman Ann Chiang Lai-wan to beg for help.

The DAB made the decision after minibond holders told the party they did not worry that the investigation would hinder the compensation progress, Tam said.

He said the party was concerned about whether the use of special powers would slow down banks' handling of the case, which could backfire and hurt the victims' interest.

The lawmakers will vote today on whether to grant a special panel the powers under the ordinance to investigate the Lehman incident, which may involve the summoning of such witnesses as bankers and financial officials, and relevant documents may be required to be presented.

Under the split-voting system, the motion can only be passed if it is endorsed by the majority of legislators from both geographical and functional constituencies.

More than half of the lawmakers from a geographical constituency said they would uphold the resolution. However, only 14 functional-constituency lawmakers out of the total 30 expressed their support for it. They are from the Civic Party, Liberal Party, pan-democrats and some independent members.

At least two more lawmakers must lend their support to get the motion passed. The DAB is thus crucial for a safe passage, as the party holds three seats in the functional constituencies.

David Li Kwok-po from the finance constituency sent a letter on Monday to all lawmakers persuading them not to support the motion, warning that the use of special investigating power would damage Hong Kong's position as an international financial center and hinder banks' efforts in buying back minibonds and other structural investment products.

(HK Edition 11/12/2008 page1)