increase font size
William Rolleston
Federated Farmers says it is time to move on after the Commerce Commission’s $2.97 million settlement with Westpac over the selling of interest rate swaps.
The commission has settled with all the banks – ANZ, ASB and Westpac – that promoted and sold interest rate swaps to rural customers between 2005 and 2012.
Federated Farmers president William Rolleston says the agreements are a fair and equitable solution and it’s time to move on. The banks must pay a total of $23.67m to 256 eligible farmers, says Rolleston.
“While some farmers felt they were not adequately informed of the risks with swaps, it is that important lessons are learned from this. Farmers must get independent advice and be sure they understand the implications of the contracts they sign. And banks must not take that understanding for granted. Trust between banker and client is paramount: it must be earned and can quickly evaporate.”
Westpac will pay $2.47 million to 38 eligible customers who registered their complaints with the commission. Westpac will also pay $250,000 towards the commission’s costs and $250,000 to Rural Support Trusts.
Commission chairman Mark Berry says the settlement was a good outcome for the 38 eligible farmers. “The payments to be made under the settlement are, in our view, a reasonable approximation of the potential losses that the commission could have recovered through any court process.”
Berry says securing a settlement was important in averting the uncertainty of contested and lengthy court cases.
OPINION: Bouquets this week from the old mutt for Fed Farmers and Groundswell for continuing to resist the proposed Gore District plan and its intention to apply costly "cultural values" across the district and a raft of land classifications that are unworkable and counterproductive.
A verbal stoush has broken out between Federated Farmers and a new group that claims to be fighting against cheaper imports that undermine NZ farmers.
Taupiri farmer Chris Woolerton is tipped to take over as Federated Farmers Waikato president from next week.
Farmers want more direct, accurate information about both fuel and fertiliser supply.
Federated Farmers is celebrating following the Government's announcement that young farmers will be able to use their KiwiSaver funds to buy their first home or farm.
National's decision to ‘dribble’ information about the NZ/India to Labour contributed to the delay in it deciding to supported the FTA.
A Hawke's Bay farmer has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half-months' home detention and disqualified from being in charge of or owning sheep and cattle for 12 months for serious animal welfare offending.
With mounting pressure on Australian farmers, driven by the increasingly fluid global uncertainty, the organisers of 'FutureAg powered by Agritechnica' have postponed the Melbourne event.
Tickets have officially gone on sale for Fieldays 2026, marking less than 50 days until the event.
A recent Beef + Lamb New Zealand ‘Farming for Profit’ field day drew about 100 people keen to hear about the policies that drove performance at Erewhon Station, located on the Taihape to Napier Road.
Zespri has unveiled Grown for Good, a refreshed global brand platform, in an effort to reinforce the company's commitment to nutrition and creating value across the kiwifruit industry.
OPINION: When Donald Trump returned to the White House, many people with half a brain could see the results for…
OPINION: Media trust has tanked because of what media's more woke members do and say.
