BFCSA Blog

  Wonga, the online loans company, is facing questions about whether its checks to prevent children from borrowing cash are adequate following evidence that it has allowed under 18s to build up debts.   By Jason Lewis, Investigations Editor 8:00AM BST 14 Oct 2012   It is the high-interest LOANS company which came from nowhere to  become one of the fastest growing finance firms in Britain. Wonga has faced widespread criticism over its interest rates, allegedly heavy-handed debt collection methods and, most recently, its £24 million shirt sponsorship deal Newcastle United football club, which some say will tempt impressionable young fans to get into debt. Now Wonga.com is facing new concerns over evidence it has allowed children to borrow cash, getting themselves, their family, and friends into debt, because its checks to prevent them applying are an inadequate. Under-18s are banned from taking out loans with the firm, and Wonga dismisses it as "fraud", but...

As at September 2012 Mr Gupta has been re-elected as XXXX  and is listed on the portfolio of another investment offering...  See Here ~~~~~~~~ The info below came through from Denise back in August...   http://www.centuria.com.au/about-us/board-of-directors/   http://www.centuria.com.au/financialservices/reverse-mortgages/   http://www.centuria.com.au/about-us/senior-management/   WHERE IS ASX, ASIC, APRA and ACCC and Minister BILL SHORTEN???   Why is there zero regulation/surveillance on banks and financial services in Australia today?   BFCSA Member 'Cynthia' took out an equity release loan as a reverse mortgage.  She was in her sixties and owned her own home.  Cynthia was enticed into the product by the OVER FIFTY GROUP and introduced to CENTURIA CAPITAL LIMITED   The Over Fifty Group sounded “respectable.”   No such thing – just a trap to steal money from vulnerable people.   The woman only borrowed $70,000 and used $60,000 of the funds in 2008.  She was told it would pay her an annuity of say $400 pw but eventually that...

John Symond’s Aussie mortgage brokers rise to the top as industry resurgence gathers pace among Top 100:~ [By Larry Schlesinger Friday, 16 November 2012] --The resurgence of mortgage brokers after the GFC has been confirmed in the latest Mortgage Professional Australia (MPA) Top 100, which ranks the brokers that have written the highest value of loans over the past financial year. In 2012 the combined sales of loans arranged by Australia’s Top 100 brokers was a cumulative $6.7 billion, compared with three years of sub-$6 billion sales following the GFC in 2008. While Aussie brokers did not place in the top 10, a remarkable one out of every four brokers (26) on this year’s Top 100 list operate under the John Symond-founded brand, compared with just 15 in 2009, the year following the GFC. This was also the second year in a row that Aussie placed more brokers in the Top 100 than...

  Unfair Bank Charges - 271,288 accounts registered already with Financial Redress Class Action - Funded by IMF Australia   Scam Alert: This is a free to enter process and bank account numbers are not needed to register. Be careful of anyone suggesting otherwise.       Until recently, some banks charged you up to $60 if you became overdrawn, went beyond an agreed limit, or made a late payment. The true cost might only have been a few dollars at most on each transaction. Banks have made billions from these unfair charges. The team at Financial Redress have campaigned hard for customers to receive compensation. We have joined forces with IMF, Australia's largest and most successful litigation funder. We are launching large scale class actions, to make these banks repay all the exception fees they have deducted over the last six years, plus interest. We have secured the services of...

Dear Mr Bouris, referring to YBR’s two-page announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange, BFCSA(inc) have some simple questions concerning 'pretender' wealth management company Yellow Brick Road and Macquarie Bank. 1.) How is YOUR base rate determined? --as any purported 'real' discount on a base rate that might "exceed" the standard rates offered by other lenders, would be deemed a “Clayton’s" discount by nature, hence, false & misleading to 'trusting' consumers. 2.) Was it just a drafting error, or otherwise? --when you asserted,"All successful applicants will get the discounted rate of up to 0.86% irrespective of their status, guaranteed for the life of the home loan after Yellow Brick Road’s first 12mths initial 1.15% discount off the [floating] "base rate". 3.) Who is the 'real' apprentice, Mr Bouris?--sorry, trick question(?) ..you see by asserting a rate discount ... “up to 0.86%” is not the same as affirming a rate discount “of 0.86%” -- as the term “Up to” may indeed denote "zero" application and/or adjustment. 4.) Does the 'up...

"The Bankwest Job" ~methodology~        On 26 Oct, 2012 --out of the blue, CommBank marched out a letter en mass to it's beloved "[LowDoc] Investment Home Loan" customers, alerting them of a "name change" [without explanation] to the loan species in concert with impending 0.25% interest rate increase --effective 14 Dec, 2012 ["the ConnBank letter"] whilst maintaining a neutral position on commensurate "Investment Home Loans". This action goes against the grain of "falling" interest rates, and if indeed genuine in nature [not] could have otherwise been more harmoniously achieved by executing a "neutral" bias towards the newly labelled "LowDoc Investment Home Loan" concurrent to last months "rates reductions" and/or "future" rate cuts expected. So why [if applicable] did ConnBank choose to agitate their "valued" customer base by executing an inflammatory regime to achieve it's "changes" when commercial "best practice principals" would ordinarily dictate otherwise? Conclusion [unequivocal]  The ConnBank letter is both a cloaked de~facto "letter...

Macquarie Group is barging back into the mortgage business with Mark Bouris' - [credited with opening up the non-bank lending market thru 'Wizard' which sold to GE for $500 million] - Yellow Brick Road as it's 'prop': Following a trading halt yesterday YBR announced a new deal with MacQ that will allow it to distribute $billions in mortgage funding and will see MacQ manufacture the loans, no doubt in a manner  "to make the [home-loan] deal fit"  --a practice known to include widespread falsification of prospective customer "loan application forms"[LAF] --a system engineered by MacQ to "wilfully" steal homes from our fellow Australians. Home loans within the "non-bank" sector, are destined for securitization thru the secondary market{RMBS}, and sold as a purported "clean asset" to the Aust Govt [taxpayers] knowingly purchasing $billions of tainted RMBS thru it's AOFM entity, spuriously labelled as "AAA Rated" by the likes of Standard & Poors [Fitch & Moody's] ratings agenciy, whose...

I’m extremely worried ...the dodgy spruiker is back, in fine form, and investors, many with memories too short to recall the bad old days of rip-offs and questionable deals, are just begging for their money to be taken, and I am seeing more people being taken advantage of, and a return to a situation we saw in the early 90s. How can you tell if a deal is dodgy? You can’t, but here are some clues to protect yourself with the following guidelines:: ~ 1) Become educated [then] you will know how to spot a dodgy deal at 10 paces: ~ 2) Beware of property being marketed by a seminar or telemarketer as these people are paid big commissions: ~ 3) Never sign a deal on the day you see it ['caveat emptor', "buyer beware"]: ~ 4) Always confirm the value of a property through recent sales to determine actual value ['comparative sales']:...

In general, very few people in Australia now know what they will have to live on when they retire. ABC's Alan Kohler looks at the lottery that is our superannuation system. It doesn't take more than a few moments thought to understand that Australia's superannuation system is not the paragon it's cracked up to be. Savers and retirees are fully exposed to both market and longevity risk, there is very little regulation around where the money should be invested and virtually no regulation of fees. In other words, Australians are required by law to save 9 per cent of their salaries in an effectively unregulated privately managed system. The industry will argue that it is, indeed, tightly regulated, but not where it counts. Other utilities' prices are set according to the returns on capital of the providers; in super, not only are fees essentially unregulated, but few customers even know what...

The information is "freely" available online for public discourse , so maybe they should go talk to Julian Assange? --and since we're not retail clients!.--   Global Credit Research - 28 Sep 2012 --Approximately $4.3 billion of debt affected New York, September 28, 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service continues to review for downgrade the ratings of Genworth Financial, Inc. ("Genworth"; NYSE: GNW, senior debt at Baa3) and the insurance financial strength (IFS) ratings of its US Mortgage Insurance (MI) operating companies. Moody's initially placed the ratings on review for downgrade on June 27, 2012.   RATINGS RATIONALE Holding Company   Commenting on the continuation of the review for downgrade of Genworth, Senior Vice President Scott Robinson said: "Moody's will continue to focus on the evaluation of holding company financial flexibility over the near to medium term. We will consider management actions and plans to enhance financial flexibility, limit the potential downside...

Young people thinking of mortgages:  Banking network is fraught with fraud. TIP 1:  Insist on copy of your Loan Application Form WHEN you sign.  Initial every page. LAF tampering by banksters is rife.   Brokers are being set up as a patsies for Bankster fraud.  Details altered by bankster staff after the fax is sent through. TIP 2:  Remember that money corrupts and ask yourself how have 100,000 families been caught with $57 Billion of debt that we suspect most can never repay.  Ask your self first if you can afford the payments from your OWN income, not from bank Line of Credits or Loans.  Its against the law to approve based upon assets or debt.  If your Bankster is suggesting or agreeing to that, REJECT THE LOAN IMMEDIATELY. TIP 3:  Save for a 20% - 30% deposit and live frugally whilst you save.  Its worth it.  Do not get into an 80% - 97%...

My Banster's Peppers They love a LAF or two They are the lender who will send ya                     off with a moan from your new home that’s missing the dollars value to put you in the poo.   You think that’s bad? FOS wont put you right They will side with ASIC and make you lose the will to fight.   COSL hates all people Unless you are a lender they will hide your info and return to to sender. Belinda...

Banksters lending into a bubble was a recipe for trouble, but their lending bravado sent prudence out the window as they took Australians astray with mortgages they couldn’t repay.   Now bank CEOs have government’s ear in promoting the fear that they are too big to fail; and “We’re not overpaid” they wail as the fraud they’ve perpetrated leaves mortgagors devastated.   It has always seemed to me this happens too regularly, so maybe the Henry Tax Review ought to be listened to in saying we need an all-in land tax to keep skyrocketing mortgages off our backs.   Land price is a phantom, that comes and goes with abandon and for such a wraith, it is a misplaced faith on which banks securitise loans if we wish to avoid credit moans.     Bryan...

i went to the banker to see ,  if he would give me some money,  sign here he said,  the rest is in my head  defraud you i will not  i am a banker i dare not  the laf i asked to see  he said why worry me ask your broker  the crim go worry him  i cant help you    i went to see cos he said im the boss a toothless tiger ran in the door asic shook his head but he had lost his roar i sit here alone about to lose my home  feeling so sad and alone  i knight in white armour  a ruthles charmer  denise brierley she will fight for me a senate enquiry denise was very firey the rights of the people  a fearless reminder the banks are so big the people so small the lies that have been told begin to unfold the...

FOS now recognise "mental illness" as a category on their application form. Does this entitle complainants to additional assistance or other concessions during the dispute resolution process? Should being a mental health client entitle complainant borrowers to demand better or more appropriate conduct from Bank staff - either during the dispute negotiation or even as a component of their complaint? Should Banks and other lenders be disciplined by FOS for the impact of their conduct on the health and well being of disabled borrowers? FOS Accessibility Guideline - fos.org.au/public/download.jsp?id=17940 (download) FOS Helpful Links - http://fos.org.au/centric/home_page/resolving_disputes/helpful_links.jsp Mental Illness - search results - http://fos.org.au/centric/home_page/search_results.jsp?orderby=rank&rpp=10&rst=all&str=mental+illness&type=and&xcid=181 It would be very interesting to know whether complainants are ticking the box for Mental Illness and if so how many ie what percentage.  Also what does FOS define as Mental Illness - do complainants require proof from a medical practitioner?      The following ABC Radio Program is...

New hires to deal with complex disputes y Kate KachorTue 09 Oct 2012 FOS plans to hire a number of additional ombudsmen to focus on complex disputes across the banking, investments and insurance sectors. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) plans to recruit a number of additional ombudsmen to work within the organisation's dispute resolutions team.In a job advertisement published late last week, the independent dispute resolution service for investors and financial services called for ombudsmen to work as part of its decisions team. The new ombudsmen will work across FOS's "more complex disputes" in the areas of banking, credit, investments and insurance, the advertisement said."Your role will be to make decisions, individually or as part of a panel, on our more complex disputes in accordance with the relevant Terms of Reference," it said."The FOS board will make the appointment for a term of up to three years, which may be renewed".Calls...

0 0 0 by Stephen Lendman   At issue is a bad barrel, not a few rotten apples. Western banking is rife with fraud.   The business model of major banks is grand theft.   UK-based Barclays bank was caught in a Libor rigging scandal. Other major banks are involved.  Barclays reflects a corrupt system. Other major banks operate the same way. Western politicians permit it. "They uphold the doctrine that whatever banks do is right."   They're failing. They're zombie banks. The entire system is corrupt. It's crumbling. Barlays is in the center of the UK storm, but watch out. Expect more globally, much more. It's coming.   The seriousness of what's known is that a system portrayed as just and sound is failing. At issue is rampant speculation at the expense of stimulating real economic growth.  Casino capitalism doesn't work. Economies suffer. So do ordinary people. The entire banking...

A Confident Consumer is a well informed and well protected Consumer WARNING:  Mortgage Loans in Australia are riddled with Fraud as this scandal deepens.  The daily revelations show that all persons with Loans:   whether Full Doc, Low Doc, No Doc or the newly devised RESI "ALT-DOC" are incredibly unsafe across 36 lenders, including the Major Banks. DO NOT BORROW FUNDS until after YOUR Government agrees to a Royal Commission into the Banking, Insurance & Superannuation Sectors. There are NO AUDITS being carried out and although we buy according to "rate of interest" the fine print of the contracts give the Banks a carte blanche to commit FRAUD at every turn.  There are no Bankster Cops on the beat. DO NOT BORROW, the Bubble will burst and everyone will be brought down to earth.  Only then, will you see the truth of why so many people have been caught in what is shaping up to be the BIGGEST...

STOP THE NONSENSE.  Just hand over the documents...there's good lads.  The game is up!!!!! You have all been caught with your silk pants down and your hands in the pensioners' cookie jars! Have we a good cartoonist in the house?  WE WIN, YOU BANKSTERS LOSE!!!!!!...

THANKS WAYNE,  BIG WARNING DO NOT BECOME INVOLVED IN LINE OF CREDIT LOANS: If you do not fully understand them.  If your "friendly" Broker or Bank Manager suggest a LOC, please mistrust that person immediately... LOCS of $350,000 being offered to pensioners. Let us know if this happens to you.  Members please tell us your experiences....... Wayne explains: "This is a common, deceitful tactic of the CBA (and others) to get the borrowers to suggest the loan known as a Line Of Credit (LOC). The bank/broker advised us that our loan should be set up this way, as a LOC. This way, the borrowers get deeper & deeper into debt over many months or years (as in our case), eventually resulting in the borrower reaching the limit of the loan.  The loan repayments made to the CBA basically came from the loan itself." DENISE EXPLAINS: The product is sold that there are no...