Consumer complaint received 2018-11-17
Company: CATHAY BANK
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
At Cathay Bank -XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX , CA XXXX ), Ms. XXXX XXXX ( administrative assistant ) who was the person persuaded me and opened " XXXX XXXX '' account for me on XX/XX/XXXX, and Mr. XXXX XXXX ( financial consultant ) then just showed up to sign document without explaining anything or offering any financial advice to me. Specifically, XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX made materially false and misleading statements and failed to disclose important terms and conditions of the investment product to me by : ( i ) saying product was " principal guaranteed and 100 % redeemable after year 4 '' ( ii ) did not mention product was illiquid investment nor mentioned the company could change dividend & redemption policy ( iii ) indicating that all papers signed or initialed were just standard model language in order to complete the transaction without explaining that if there were certain terms and conditions could negatively impact investor 's financial wellbeing or any risks investor could run into ( iv ) the information on client account acknowledgement form were overstated my investment history, annual income, net worth & etc., they were made up by Cathay Bank ( v ) XXXXXXXX XXXX was not properly licensed to sell and/or explain the investment product to investors like me at that time. 
The share value of XXXX has dropped to $ XXXX/share ( as of XX/XX/XXXX ) from my initial purchase price ( $ XXXX/share ) and the dividends were cut down 50 % starting from XX/XX/XXXX. Starting from XXXX XXXX, and the worst of all shares can be only repurchased in connection with a stockholders death or qualifying disability which totally altered the products original investment nature and features. 

I filed a complaint letter dated XX/XX/XXXX to Mr. XXXX XXXX the President at Cathay Bank and it was forwarded to XXXX XXXX XXXX ( Brokerage firm on the premises of Cathay Bank ). I received reply letter dated XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX XXXX ( Sr. Compliance Analyst, XXXX XXXX XXXX ). She simply quoting application form and documents bearing my signatures and initials and what XXXX and XXXX statement to deny my statement regarding their wrong doings. I then made phone calls to Mr. XXXX XXXX ( Brokerage Compliance Officer, Cathay wealth management ) to express my frustration and asked for alternatives such as face to face confrontation with XXXX & XXXX. Letter datedXX/XX/XXXX was received from XXXX saying that absence of new information, they stand by their XXXX deny decision. Their action simply delayed the finding of the truth and never tried to offer me a fair and positive solution. I do not agree and cant accept the result and I feel this whole thing has been a deceptive and misleading business practice - a business doesn't deliver based on its promises. I also firmly consider that it is a UDAAP violation when it comes to consumer protection. I want to seriously point out that XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX have misrepresented material facts and omitted important terms and conditions related to the investment. I am very disappointed that Cathay Bank senior managers did not fulfill their supervisory responsibilities and XXXX XXXX XXXX did not offer any positive support to customers to resolve issues. 
I'm fighting for the my right to redeem the investment after 4 years of holding ( which would be fulfilled as of XX/XX/XXXX ) and the guaranteed 100 % principal as XXXX XXXX promised me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation