BFCSA Blog

A banned mortgage broker has lifted the lid on ASIC’s attempts to “scapegoat” the broker channel by “making an example of anyone that comes in their way”. Insurance brokers could be in the firing line too… Last week ASIC handed Sydney mortgage broker Athol Halvorsen a six-year ban and cancelled the credit licence of Gearing.com, where Halvorsen is a senior manager. ASIC claimed he submitted nine loan applications to St George and Perpetual, pre-GFC, that contained false and misleading statements regarding the borrowers’ income and employment. However, Halvorsen strenuously denies the fraud allegations, telling Insurance Business’ sister title Australian Broker Online the borrowers themselves signed the documents to say all information provided “was correct and true,” and the banks accepted it. Halvorsen claimed ASIC will be targeting the broker community even more sternly moving forward. “ASIC is just puffing up its chest and trying to make an example of anyone that...

   by: Scott Murdoch From:The Australian July 12, 20121:23PM   Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority chairman John Laker warned that he could not regulate against stupid actions by companies. Source: The Australian AUSTRALIA'S top financial regulators warned that stupidity cannot be regulated against, with the onus on boards to make sure their corporate governance did not risk a company's future. Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) chairman Greg Medcraft and Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) chairman John Laker told a Sydney conference that boards needed to carry out vigilant due diligence before appointing non-executive directors. Dr Laker said that regulators and prudential supervisors could only implement guidelines based on legal and regulatory frameworks. "I can't say 'I have a piece of paper that says thou shalt not be stupid’," Dr Laker told The Economists Bellwether conference. "I would love that regulation but it does not exist."Mr Medcraft, a former investment banker, said...

Please read the following article and the interesting comments below the article. http://www.brokernews.com.au/article/banned-broker-im-a-scapegoat-144466.aspx   Broker says: “These clients received an electronic copy of the application forms, from St George as part of their mortgage documents and they have to read it and sign it to authorise that everything in the application form is true,” he said.   Furthermore, he claims the information was provided by the financial planner, who was, incidentally, banned earlier this year for his role in the saga.   “When I’m with a client and also liaising with their financial planner – at their request – I trust, and they trust, the financial planner.”   “I wasn’t acting for them [as a financial advisor]. I was doing my job as a mortgage broker.”   He admitted the loans were low documentation for a property investment, although he had “no idea” what the investment scheme was, and it wasn’t...

BY GUY GOLDRICK BANKWEST CLASS ACTION GROUP   02 Dec, 2011 04:00 AM   AN article in Queensland Country Life reported that Bankwest had called in receivers on the properties owned by Richmond Mayor John Wharton. He is not alone so much so that I have formed a class action group over of Bankwest's actions since they were bought out by CBA. The outcome is many hard working Australian families and businesses have lost everything because of the corporate greed of CBA and the need to be seen to be doing the right thing by the Government. I would put losses by these families and business at over half a billion dollars. We believe there have been backroom deals done between the Government and the CBA on this. The huge winners have been CBA and the receivers who feed off the carcasses of the Australian families and businesses that CBA/Bankwest has...

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed on 3 July 2008 that the Commonwealth would assume responsibility for the regulation of consumer credit. So there you have it.This is official off the ASIC website. AFP here we come!!! Oh and by the way,all credit providers and AFS licence holders have to have Professional Indemnity Insurance up to 20 million....

CEO Phil Naylor said the Australian Democrats and some in the media have confused low doc loans with the sub-prime crisis that hit the US and other overseas markets."There has been no evidence of such sub-prime lending in Australia, while the incidence of fraudulent applications being written for low-doc loans is miniscule," he added. "Where we have identified problems, the MFAA's Disciplinary Tribunal has acted quickly and effectively to expel members who have been found to have provided false information in loan applications," Naylor said. Although the MFAA Tribunal has dealt with many claims of misconduct by members over the years, very few have related to low-doc fraud.Naylor said the Senate Economics committee currently sitting had not seen "widespread, systemic financial fraud" as claimed by the Democrats and the committee would make its recommendations, negating the need for yet another inquiry.The MFAA recently reported that the number of mortgage brokers expelled...

29th June. 2009                                                                  From ; Wayne & Carol Styles                                                                                                               62, Azzurra Drive,                                                                                                            Varsity Lakes,                                                                                                         Gold Coast, 4227Dear Mr. D’Aloisio,I commend you for deciding to take legal action against the COMMONWEALTH BANK & other banks regarding the Storm Financial con.The Commonwealth Bank is commonly engaged in grossly Misleading Conduct and Unconscionable Conduct, purely for profiteering & greed. The Commonwealth Bank are making it their common business practice to corruptly accept FALSIFIED...

08 OCTOBER 2012 EOIN BLACKWELL | AAP AS MUCH AS HALF OF Papua New Guinea's A$3.5 billion development budget over three years has been lost to graft or dodgy overseas investments, the head of the Pacific nation's government anti-corruption task force says. Task Force Sweep chairman Sam Koim (pictured) says Australian financial institutions have been complicit by turning a blind eye to dirty monies being redirected to Australian connections. A Task Force Sweep analysis of PNG's 7.6 billion kina development budget from 2009 through 2011 shows almost half was lost to corrupt practices by public officials and government departments. "We have uncovered a lot of instances where there was no recourse to budget and people were spending money left, right and centre, squandering funds and using them for private purposes," Mr Koim told AAP today. "Given the trend of corruption and seeing that there is nothing on the ground level to...

It's on the front page of the Financial Review. It's on the breakfast programs. And it's all over the web. But there are more important developments than Reserve Bank policy. Watch Slideshow View Full Image REUTERSUS Stocks   Still, investors should always keep a weather eye on the politicians, bureaucrats and economists. We've decided to dedicate a whole four paragraphs to them today, before getting into the really important advice we want to give you. If you believe the media, the Reserve Bank saved Australia yesterday. The team of superheroes known as the Board lowered the cash rate. Fantastic, thank the Board. Unless you're a saver and Australian dollar holder. Then you're the one paying for your neighbour's cheaper mortgage. Of course, most banks haven't passed on their cuts yet. Some are better at playing the price fixing game than others. The Aussie dollar hasn't waited though. It's down two cents...

This is a piece of the puzzle: Who Runs (or Ruins) ASIC ...  http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=corporations_ctte/asic/asic_2012_2_Aug/index.htm   Is Greg Medcraft really to blame for ASICs poor performance - or is he the scapegoat for political influence resulting from lobbyists and other self-interested parties?  ASIC had the powers but didn't use them - why? ASIC had been around for many years under other Chairmen and had been even less effective - why?  Where is the list of donations to political parties and the list of meetings and lunches with large corporations and self-interested parties?  Look behind the regulatory facades and you will find corruption and enmeshment involving politicians, unions, regulators, senior government managers, overseas interests: the less obvious side of "business as usual" in Canberra. Politicians complain that Australians have "disengaged" with Australian politics. What they really mean is Australians seems to be less interested in the spruiking from the major parties as they see...

  From: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Sent: Monday, October 01, 2012 6:03 AM To: ARREE Subject: Tell us about your experience with ASIC Dear Sir/Madam,Our records show that you recently raised a concern with ASIC (ASIC ref: XYZ/12) and that you were subsequently contacted by an ASIC staff member to discuss that matter. We would like to seek your feedback on this experience to assist us in tailoring and improving our services to your needs.Your participation is voluntary. If you wish to provide feedback, please complete the five-minute online survey by clicking on this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F95KR97?c=34529/12. Once you click on the link you will be directed to Survey Monkey, an external website.Kind Regards,Australian Securities & Investments Commission...

 Posted Mon Sep 17, 2012 7:29pm AEST Photo: Greg Medcraft says the parliament and the public understand it gets the regulation it pays for. (ASIC) Related Story: Storm Financial compensation claim stalls Related Story: ASIC issues warning to self-funded retirees Related Story: Financial planners stumble in ASIC advice test   Map: Australia Finance Minister Penny Wong has expressed faith in the corporate watchdog's ability to regulate the financial sector after its chairman publicised its limitations. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released a report on its workload, which shows it can only examine the 220 hedge funds once every six-and-a-half years. The report shows ASIC has just 29 staff to monitor more than 3,300 financial advisers. ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft says it is important the public understands the regulator cannot be on every street corner and that the parliament and public understand it gets the regulation it pays for....

    STOP FRAUD.GOV  - Financial Fraud Enforcement Task   Fraudulent activities should always be reported to your local law enforcement office. The following is additional information on how specific types of fraud complaints or cases of suspected fraud can be submitted to federal agencies. I Want To Report: Bankruptcy Fraud Computer-Based Fraud Cyber Crime Elder Fraud Health Information Privacy Violations Housing Discrimination Identity Theft Commodities, Investment and Securities Fraud Mail Fraud Mass Marketing/Telemarketing Fraud Medicare Fraud Mortgage Fraud or Loan Scams Recovery Act Fraud Rescue Fraud Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS) Fraud Retirement Plan Abusive Transactions Social Security number misuse Student Loan Fraud Tax Fraud Unfair Competition   ...

The Reserve Bank of Australia is facing a corruption scandal involving a subsidiary company, Securency, which allegedly paid bribes to secure overseas contracts for its banknote-printing business. The whistleblower in the case has also alleged that senior officials in the RBA itself were aware of the affair but failed to act.The case has strong parallels to the AWB scandal. The monopoly wheat exporter, previously the Australian Wheat Board, made illegal payments to Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq to circumvent United Nations sanctions. The payments were in the form of ''trucking fees'' to companies that never trucked any wheat. Australia had signed up to the sanctions and would soon be at war in Iraq.    "Audit committees look at spending but not staffing, even though a corrupt decision to employ an incompetent crony has huge cost. "The AWB and the Reserve were (and the latter still is) highly respected organisations. Former prime minister...

The Australian Federal Government is dangerously close to destroying basic Human Rights Issues in the deepening Australian Mortgage Scandal.  The Government has failed to provide even a modicum of assistance to those affected by gross regulatory neglect of its own Public Servants. More shortly This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  ...

By Larry Schlesinger Monday, 13 August 2012 Prudential regulator APRA has written to lenders warning them they must accurately report overdue loans to borrowers who have been granted hardship concessions. The regulator is concerned that lenders have been relaxing their reporting standards in relation to these loans, which can paint a distorted picture of the performance of a lender's loan book. APRA executive general managers Keith Chapman and Brandon Khoo wrote to banks on August 8 saying there had been instances where lenders were “re-ageing arrears on loans granted such concessions in order to prevent the triggering of collections processes”. Re-aging refers a to a lender increasing the term of a loan agreement when the borrower has missed one or more payments and changes the account from “delinquent" to “current”. If a significant number of loans are re-aged, it can make a lender’s loan portfolio appear of higher quality than it...

Remember the FACT:  Aussie was suggesting the ORIGINAL WET INK COPIES must be DESTROYED within days of approval being granted.   We ask WHY was that necessary?  Ask Aussie John "we'll save ya." Symond  - why?  Was the shredding mandatory for Aussie Brokers? Was it the Banksters that Mr Symond lunched with, that suggested the "shredding policy"?  Methinks YES BANKS ONLY HAD FAXED COPY - NOT THE ORIGINAL.  Banks told Brokers to shred THE ORIGINAL..... ASIC stated they wished to see emails............They only had to ask BFCSA Members....... YOU WANT TO SEE EMAILS TO THAT EFFECT?  Just a sneak peek........from Aussie to BFCSA victim of CBA "At the time we set up your home loan mortgage brokers had to destroy all the documentation file copies etc with the banks retaining for 7 years. We were not allowed to retain any of it. Personally I don’t know who made the rule etc and...

On Monday 21 November 2011, Charles Littrell, Executive General Manager of Policy, Research and Statistics of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority addressed the Australian Securitisation Forum Conference. In his keynote address, Mr Littrell provided an overview of recent securitisation events pre- and post-financial crisis and APRA's approach to securitisation. Mr Littrell also outlined: key concerns from APRA's perspective given the recent events in the global economy; and the reforms that APRA has introduced, and will continue to roll out, in an attempt to address investor and depositor disquiet, particularly in relation to securitisation. Key observations Mr Littrell made the following key points: A positive take on securitisation: Despite the collapse of investor demand for securitised paper following the global financial crisis, APRA remains of the view that securitisation is more useful than it is dangerous. There was, however, a cautionary statement that securitisation should not become over-complicated. Displeasing practice: Mr Littrell...

ASIC’s problem, as Paul Barry indicated in his excellent article on Storm Financial (‘In the Eye of the Storm’, February 2011), is that the regulator is far too compliant and process-driven at the top, rather than being proactive and bold enough to get out there in the financial marketplace, look at what advisory firms are up to, and take action to nip in the bud schemes where rogue advisers play dangerous games with investors’ hard-earned retirement savings. ASIC should shut rogue advisers down and take away their licence to give advice before – and not after – they inflict catastrophic damage on investors. Read on .... http://www.themonthly.com.au/letters/anne-lampe EDITOR:  ASIC needs to start the long overdue into the Banks that were freely handing out the money for "pensioners" to invest their homes into dodgy investments.  The buck stops with the Banks.  NO dollars no purchase and ASIC knew that a decade ago....

Dear Greg, Remember our meeting on 15 July 2001 in Brisbane, with Barrister Errol Hoopman and then Darren McShane, Enforcement Director of ASIC?  I mentioned that Westpoint was a likely PONZI, that the Info Memos were a Prospectus "lookalike" and that I had complained in writing the year before that I believed thousands of people would lose their super nest eggs and their homes.  That Westpoint was running an illegal MIS and were selling to UNSOPHISTICATED Mums and Dads. If you want more powers, we have to know that you intend to use them because the Minister said publicly after the Westpoint collapse in 2005: "ASIC has plenty of powers...." meaning they were failing miserably to sue those powers.  $380 million was lost in that debacle that could have been intercepted by you in 2000.   All six ASIC Commissioners met twice on this issue during 2000, after I raised the alarm with documentary evidence in hand,  and you all turned your backs.  In 2004 I publicly released 3...