BFCSA Blog

Imagine if a large number of people all decided to rob a bank today (please IMAGINE and do not do this) and the Government decided to create NEW LAWS to suggest that this illegal act was no longer illegal and you are now all free to do this again and again? WELL THAT is exactly what our Government has done for the Banks at the expense and trauma of its own people.  The Australian Government knew for close on two decades that people were being deliberately and maliciously targeted by Ganksters acting as Banksters.......with the clear intention (according to evidence BFCSA has amassed) of stealing homes from low income families and pensioners and charging high end fees for the privilege. The Government decided on 1 July 2010 to do something extraordinary.  We had several laws in various states and also the ASIC Act, to protect consumers from KNOWN predatory banking and bad...

Political Parties will find no currency in either trying to avoid the Mortgage Elephant in the room or continue to bury the bodies.  The Low Doc Loan Scandal which eeked into the Full Doc Loans with identical toxicity, could envelope every Australian in some form.   The amount of toxicity in these 30 year loans, set to implode within 4 - 6 years, is an unknown quantity.  Yet every loan we have viewed has fraud and/or forgery starring us in the face: "not one clean loan."   Collectively, members have been able to piece together the mechanics of this dreadful situation.  Both major political parties have been hiding our sub prime problem for far too long and knowingly offering no protection to consumers.  That abysmal strategy to protect the banks at the expense of ordinary Mums and Dads will costs this nation dearly on many levels. The evidence is clear: ASIC...

Thankyou to Denise and all BFCSA members, workers, staff, committee, friends and supporters around the world! A special thankyou to Denise for her assistance and ideas in this post. She is one very special person.   It's time for a "big push" to get our voices heard in Canberra :) PLEASE GET YOUR PENS OUT - IT'S LETTER WRITING TIME! - BIG TIME THIS TIME! The Australian Senate Inquiry into Post GFC Banking is due to issue a report on 31st October (less than three weeks away). The report will be a public document viewable on the Senate website. Now is a very good time to lobby politicians from the hearings if you want changes made as they will be discussing and preparing the report over the next few days/weeks: Please pass the word on to everyone you know. A non-partisan solution (minus the politics) is needed. Please encourage the Senators...

David Collyer was right. Denise's evidence and assertions are based in many years' research. There is no room for speculation in the black and white of her evidence. It's FRAUD. What is more it is intentional, premeditated and well organised systemic fraud. How can the regulators and the politicians deny the facts and keep their credibility? They can't. Further evidence has been revealed since the initial hearing at the Senate Inquiry. It underlines the even greater need for a Royal Commission. The Australian public want the truth. Investors want the truth. Borrowers want the truth. Our international reputation is also under scrutiny. Surely it is part of the job description of any chief regulator or parliamentary representative to supply informed, well-researched answers not off the cuff comments based on assumptions and their own opinion in order to protect their jobs! They are paid handsomely to supervise and ensure the stability our...

A federal government frontbencher has attacked the opposition for refusing to back a new code of conduct for MPs. Independent Rob Oakeshott's push for new standards for MPs is expected to be one of the first pieces of business in the lower house today. The motion is expected to pass later in the week with the support of Labor. The code will include a process for considering complaints against MPs and a revamped role for the privileges and members' interests committee. But manager of opposition business Christopher Pyne reportedly said the coalition won't support it until an upper house committee reports on a similar code for the Senate. "The question people should be asking is why the Liberal party is so opposed to this notion that a code of conduct might be introduced," Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury told reporters in Canberra. "They feel as though not only are they allowed to...

I rise tonight to talk about what I consider to be the greatest oxymoron in Australia at the moment—that is, ethical banking. I wish to relate some of my experiences during the early 1980s when my family were involved in a foreign currency loan in Swiss francs. We drew down the loan in January 1985. Shortly after that, we saw the depreciation of the Australian dollar. There was only one way to protect yourself from those loans and that was to hedge your loan. I went to my bank manager, Peter Neil—a good man who lives out here near Goulburn these days—and requested that I hedge my loan. He informed me that I could not, that that would change our currency and you could do that only at rollover periods. The rest is history because Mr Neil was wrong. The bank had not trained their staff properly and it led to...

Often when you tell people your story and plight with the banks or to the media- they comment - but you signed the papers. My next question to them is - so you think it is okay that fraud has been committed and that the Banks are profiting from it? Are you saying that the banks are above the law and should not be accountable to the rules set by the law of this country.  No matter which way you look at it - a crime has been commited and it needs to be investigated. Isn't that why we have laws for?  Crime is crime. No sugar coating of it or exceptions. When put that way to most people - they understand better and agree - if fraud has been committed - it needs to be investigated. So if you speak to the media - make sure you ask that question. Remain focused...

Comment: An enlightening read ... Thu, 06/21/2007 - 21:36 — Arthur Cristian The Banks and John Howard By Dr Evan Jones Sydney University Political Economics [Caution: this is a very long post. The post is rated M for mature audiences only.] In the early 1980s, John Howard was Federal Treasurer under the Fraser Coalition Government. Howard had initiated the Campbell Inquiry into the financial sector and its 1981 Report recommended comprehensive deregulation of the sector. The ‘experts’ thought and talked abstractly about the merits of ‘competition’ but remained blissfully indifferent to the meaning of competition on the ground. Facing a loss of market share to various newcomers, the trading banks set about transforming their cultures. Banking culture was passé; marketing and speculative mindsets were the new cultures de jour. Dealers earned inordinate salaries and bonuses. Lending manager’s earnings and status was tied to business done. Delegated Lending Authority limits (constraints on...