Westpac Urges Farmers to Prepare Now for El Niño Drought
Westpac NZ is calling on farmers and growers to start preparing now for the possibility of a dry summer, as likely El Niño conditions raise the risk of drought across parts of the country.
According to the filing, the bank allegedly breached lender responsibility principles, after multiple failures meant customers did not receive legally required information about their loans and, in some cases, agreed interest rate discounts.
Vanessa Horne, the Commerce Commission’s general manager, competition, fair trading and credit, says the Commission expects banks to invest in robust compliance practices to ensure they are compliant with the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 (CCCFA).
Horne says banks’ failure to do so can have a detrimental effect on their customers and deprive people of crucial information they are entitled to.
The Commission says it believes Westpac failed to invest in adequate systems and processes to ensure it complied with its CCCFA obligations.
It states that these failures led to a lack of required disclosure to borrowers and guarantors and failing to apply agreed discounts to interest rates to some customers’ home loans.
The bank has subsequently admitted to the breaches and is finalizing its remediation for impacted borrowers.
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The Commission is seeking declarations that Westpac breached the responsible lending principles and pecuniary penalties. Westpac and the Commission entered into a settlement agreement prior to filing the proceedings to conclude matters on these terms.
The responsible lending principles impose obligations on lenders when advertising, before entering into a loan, and during all subsequent dealings with borrowers and guarantors.
