CBA is Less Focused On Brokers

In the CBA’s full-year 2018 (FY19) financial results, released yesterday, the share of new home loans originated by brokers dropped from 43 per cent  in FY17 to 41 per cent in FY18, as they focus on “their core market”.

CBA’s net profit after tax (NPAT) also took a hit over FY18, falling by 4.8 per cent to $9.23 billion, the first profit decline in 9 years. NIM was lower in the second half.

They warned of higher home loan defaults “as some households experienced difficulties with rising essential costs and limited income, leading to some pockets of stress”.

CEO Matt Comyn attributed the decline in profit growth to “one-off” payments, which included CBA’s $700 million AUSTRAC penalty, the $20 million settlement paid to ASIC for alleged bank bill swap rate (BBSW) rigging, and $155 million in regulatory costs incurred from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

“There has been a number of one-off items that have impacted the result, including a couple of large penalties that we have resolved. If you strip some of those out, actually the result looks more from an underlying perspective up 3.7 per cent,” Mr Comyn said.

We discussed the results in our latest video.

More from Australian Broker.

The number of broker-originated loans as a proportion of all new business settled by the major bank has dropped alongside a fall in residential lending.

Over the same period, the total number of home loans settled by CBA also dropped from $49 billion in FY17 to $45 billion in FY18.

The bank’s overall mortgage portfolio now totals $451 billion, with the share of broker-originated loans slipping from 46 per cent in FY17 to 45 per cent in FY18.

In its presentation notes, CBA made specific reference to the bank’s focus on its “core market” of owner-occupied lending through its propriety channel, with the number of loans settled through its direct channel rising from 57 per cent to 59 per cent in FY18, and the share of new owner-occupied mortgages also growing from 67 per cent to 70 per cent.

The share of investor loans settled by CBA over FY18 declined from 33 per cent to 29 per cent, now making up 32 per cent of the major bank’s mortgage portfolio.

Interest-only lending fell sharply over FY18, falling by 18 per cent from 41 per cent of new loans settled in FY17 to 23 per cent in FY18.

The proportion of new loans settled with variable rates increased in FY18, from 85 per cent to 86 per cent (81 per cent of CBA’s portfolio).

CBA CEO Matt Comyn attributed the fall in the bank’s home lending to risk and pricing adjustments introduced by the lender over the financial year.

“[We] have been prepared to make some choices from both a risk and pricing perspective, which has seen us grow below system in home lending,” the CEO said.

“We will continue to make the right choices from volume and margin as we think about our home lending business. But overall, the core franchise of the retail bank has continued to perform well.”

Mr Comyn also claimed that despite slowing credit and housing conditions, he expects the bank to generate 4 per cent credit growth in FY19 and noted that CBA would not be looking to make any further changes to its lending policy.

“Consistent with the remarks from the chair of APRA, we see that the majority of the tightening work has been done, certainly at the margin, and there’s certainly some potential in the application of those policy changes,” the CEO continued.

“[We] certainly don’t see any big policy adjustments on the horizon. We feel like that 4 per cent credit growth, given what we’re seeing at the moment in the system, is about right, and of course, it’ll be a function of our performance against that system.”

 

Homeowners face refi challenges as home values fall

From Australian Broker

As many as 15% of surveyed homeowners have faced challenges when trying to refinance, due to falling property prices.

Research conducted by mortgage lender State Custodians, quizzed 1,022 home owners on their ability to refinance in the current climate, as national average home values continues to fall.

According to CoreLogic market data for the month of July, capital city home prices declined by 0.6% and now stand 2.4% lower over the year; it is the largest monthly decline in six and a half years. The national home price index also declined by 0.6% to average a 1.6% decline over the year.

The figures published by State Custodians also revealed that young people were the most affected, with around 34% of those under the age of 34 saying they’ve been unsuccessful in re-financing because of declining property values.

“Property prices have been stagnating and falling across much of Australia for some time now – especially in the major capital markets of Sydney and Melbourne – which has made refinancing tougher for some,” State Custodian general manager Joanna Pretty said in a statement.

“Anyone who has not yet built up a substantial amount of equity in property or whose property has fallen in value is more likely to be unsuccessful in seeking refinancing,” she added.

However, there is some good news as 29% of respondents said they are confident their property’s value has improved since purchase. Further, 41% of people with mortgages have successfully refinanced their home and experienced no problem getting a better rate as their property’s value increased.

Pretty said that when refinancing, homeowners and investors are often overly confident that their property increased in value.

“Declines in property value are influenced by what is happening in the market and the land value of the area,” she said. She explained that valuation of homes even in good areas can still come back below expectation due to poor property maintenance and upkeep.

Pretty suggested that “it may also be helpful to be present when a valuer visits to point out improvements that may not be immediately apparent, such as solar panels.”

Elsewhere, AB says brokers can help the thousands of people labelled ‘mortgage prisoners’ by directing them to non-bank lenders, is the call from an industry association.

Mortgage prisoners are borrowers unable to refinance to a lower interest rate due to changed lending criteria by the banks.

The Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) has said that going to non-banks is the way to overcome this.

FBAA executive director Peter White said the government should also step in and push banks to be realistic with their modelling.

He revealed he personally brought up the issue with federal treasurer Scott Morrison when the two caught up at a recent lunch.

White said banks have recently increased the interest rate ‘buffer’ they add onto a loan to ensure the borrower has capacity to pay if rates rise, but the extent of the increase has led to a situation where borrowers who are already paying a mortgage are being rejected for loans that actually reduce their repayments.

He said, “It’s madness. Someone wants to refinance to pay a lower rate yet the bank adds an extra 4% to the interest rate and decides the borrower can’t afford to pay less.”

He said while he understands the need for a lender to add a safety net to the prevailing interest rate, they are now effectively doubling the rate to a level where the borrower can’t meet the new lending criteria.

He added, “This doesn’t affect the wealthy, it affects those who can least afford it and it has almost stalled the home loan refinance market.”

The assessment change is a knee-jerk reaction by the banks to recent inquiries and the royal commission, according to White, who predicts the banks may start to set an even higher rate.

He said the situation only reinforces the value of the expert advice that finance brokers provide and has urged brokers to be proactive in the space.

He said, “Many Australians are not even aware of non-bank lenders, let alone the difference or that they are not under some of the same regulatory oversight, so we must educate and help them. We know the banks won’t!”

Majors will move rates “sooner or later”

From Australian Broker.

The big banks are under increasing pressure to move interest rates as more lenders make changes in response to increased costs.

Over the last week ten institutions have changed their interest rates to home loan products, with a total of 53 product level changes recorded.

While we have seen a number of rate increases over the last few weeks, despite the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) holding the cash rate, not all of the changes have been increases.

According to the information from comparison site Canstar, Yellow Brick Road made changes to all home loan types.

Mortgage House dropped its fixed rate investment products by 61 to 72 bps. It also made some changes to its owner occupier fixed rate products with interest rate decreases of 8 to 26bps.

Westpac also made changes this week. It increased its owner occupier fixed rate interest only home loans by 5 to 15bp.

Suncorp also made changes to its fixed rate products, decreasing the rates of its investment loans by 10 to 40bps.

Explaining the changes in interest rates, Steve Mickenbecker, group executive, financial services, at Canstar, said, “We are seeing a classic bit of churn that tends to happen at the top or bottom of a market.

“It has only just started in the last month or two, and we’re quite a while from seeing the end of it. The upward pressure is mounting, and at the same time the banks want to hold some competitive rates in the market.

“With LIBOR and BBSW up 40 basis points in a month, it’s not surprising that we are seeing rate increases.

“The cost of wholesale funding is rising, which ultimately has to find its way through to home loan rates. At this stage it is the second-tier banks that have increased their variable rates by 8 to 10 basis points, not the big banks.

“The funding pressure sees some fixed rates rising, while other banks have moved down to maintain a competitive rate in the market for new business as they have increased their variable rates across the book for both the existing and new.”

While so far it has been the ‘second-tier’ banks changing variable rates, Mickenbecker said “big banks are under even more pressure”.

He added, “With around 80% of existing loans provided by the big four and the bulk in variable rates, any move in variable rates is going to flow through to most Australian borrowers.

“In the political world of banks through this Royal Commission, an increase is going to only increase the opprobrium. Westpac has moved interest only fixed rates up, reflecting that even the big lenders are feeling the funding pressure.

“But in terms of margin across the Westpac portfolio, the increase will hardly make a difference.  With most big banks funding around 60 to 65% of their loan book through retail deposits, they have some buffer from wholesale funding increases.

“However, sooner or later they will have to move variable rates up. The timing might come down to when they feel they can face down the community.”

More banks increase rates

From Australian Broker.

More banks have increased interest rates as the pressure of increased funding costs continues to mount.

Both Bendigo Bank and Teachers Mutual Bank Limited (TMBL) announced new rates. TMBL includes three banks: Teachers Mutual Bank, UniBank and Firefighters Mutual Bank.

While Bendigo has increased its variable interest rates for home owners, TMBL announced changes to its fixed rates for new customers to the group’s brands.

Bendigo has confirmed the changes are to absorb increasing funding costs.

Managing Director Marnie Baker said the changes reflect the increased cost of funding.

She said, “When setting interest rates our bank needs to consider many factors and carefully take into account the needs of our stakeholders including customers, shareholders, staff, partners and the broader community.

“Funding costs have been steadily increasing this year, and we’ve absorbed this cost impact to date. Today’s adjustment to the variable interest rates will assist in balancing this funding cost increase.

“We carefully balance the interests of our mortgage customers, those who earn money through deposits and those who invest in our Bank. We must ensure our pricing remains market competitive, provides the appropriate platform for sustainable growth and supports the hundreds of communities in which we operate.”

TMBL rates have increased on selected fixed rate home loan products.

The rates have been increased by 8, 9, and 9 basis points for 1, 2, and 3 year fixed rates respectively.

TMBL chief executive officer, Steve James, said, “These rate changes are the first increase in 12 months for fixed rates, and follow a decrease to our fixed rates last November.

“Any new members who join after these rate changes will still have access to a competitive market rate and great products, such as our 100% mortgage offset facility.”

Other banks to increase rates recently include AusWide, IMB, AMP, ING and Bank of Queensland.

Rate changes – Bendigo
Variable interest rates across home loans and lines of credit will increase for owner occupiers and investors as follows:

  • Owner occupier principal and interest loans will increase by 0.10% pa;
  • Owner occupier interest only loans will increase by 0.16% pa;
  • Investment loans will increase by 0.10% pa;
  • Lines of credit will increase by 0.10% pa.

The interest rate changes announced are effective Monday 23 July.

Customers on a residential variable interest rate with a $250,000 loan will see their repayments increase by $15.71 a month (principal and interest home loan over 30 years).

Rate changes – TMBL
The changes will affect owner-occupier, principal & interest, 1, 2 and 3 year fixed rate home loans.

The new rates are as follows:

  • 1 Year Fixed rate OO P&I – 3.87% p.a.
  • 2 Year Fixed rate OO P&I – 3.78% p.a.
  • 3 Year Fixed rate OO P&I – 3.88% p.a.

The new rates are effective from Monday, 16 July 2018.

Prospa announces IPO to raise $146m

From Australian Broker.

An online business lender is aiming to raise around $146million through an initial public offering (IPO).

Prospa is expected to list the ASX on 6 June, offering shares at an offer price of $3.64 per share. The IPO was lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

The majority of funds raised in the IPO will be used to fund growth in Prospa’s existing business model and for investing in new product categories and expansion into New Zealand.

While there will be no general public offering of shares, offers will include:

  • An institutional offer, which consists of an offer to Institutional Investors in Australia and certain other geographies
  • A Retail Offer, consisting of the:
    • Broker Firm Offer, which is open to Australian retail clients and sophisticated New Zealand retail clients of Macquarie Equities, Crestone and JBWere; and
    • Priority Offer, which is open to investors chosen by the Company; and
  • An Employee Offer, which is open to eligible Prospa employees.

The IPO will see long-term, London based venture capital investor Entrée Capital support the offer to maintain its 34% stake in the company.

In addition, Australian based venture capital investors Airtree has invested an additional $3m giving it a stake in the company of 8.4%, whilst SquarePeg has invested an additional $10m, increasing their holding from 3.2% to 4.4%.

Chairman Greg Ruddock said on behalf of the Prospa Board that he was pleased to offer the opportunity to become a shareholder in the company.

He added, “Prospa has flourished by offering fast, flexible loans to Australian small businesses that have historically been underserved by traditional banks. Since inception, Prospa has strategically invested in the two most important parts of our business, people and technology. This offer marks another stage of growth for the company, as we look to expand into new geographies and products.”

Co-CEO Greg Moshal said, “From the very beginning, Prospa has set out to be the market leader at what we do, lending to small businesses. And we have done this by obsessing about our customers and finding new ways to improve their chance of success by designing outstanding new customer solutions. Prospa’s success has been the result of a group of smart, talented and passionate people uniting around a common mission to change the way small businesses experience finance.”

Co-CEO Beau Bertoli added, “We started Prospa in 2012 because it was clear to us there had to be a better way. As first mover in a nascent market, Prospa has led the way in enabling small businesses to succeed. Listed life marks another milestone in our growth, however our approach to business won’t change. We are relentlessly looking for a better way to operate, continuously innovating our products and business model and using data to make great decisions and better manage risk.”

Post-IPO, Airtree and SquarePeg will be escrowed to the end of the forecast period.

Entrée Capital and Prospa’s co-founders Greg Moshal and Beau Bertoli, chairman Greg Ruddock and non-executive director, Avi Eyal (co-founder and Managing Partner of Entrée Capital) will be escrowed until the release of Prospa’s FY19 full year audited results.

Earlier this year Prospa confirmed the appointment of Greg Ruddock to the role of chairman of the board, and Gail Pemberton AO and Fiona Trafford-Walker as independent non-executive directors.

Preparing for the Switch

From Australian Broker.

Interest only loans are rarely out of the news. Following ASIC’s interim review the September quarter posted a knee-jerk 44.8% decline in new IO loans and lending practices are now firmly in the regulator’s crosshairs. APRA and RBA have already clamped down and further scrutiny is expected during the royal commission.

The regulators aren’t the only ones concerned. In February, assistant governor Michele Bullock delivered a speech on mortgage stress in which she highlighted a “large proportion of interest-only loans are due to expire between 2018 and 2022”.

That large proportion is, in fact, almost every IO loan written between 2013 and 2016, and subsequent analysis of IO property fixed-term lending by Digital Finance Analytics has calculated the total number at 220,000, with values upwards of $100bn.

These loans originate from before the reviews of 2015 and 2017, and in the coming year the fixed terms on 14% of them will face a reset outside of current lending criteria. By 2020, the value of loans due for renegotiation is expected to reach $27bn.

While there are many options open to these borrowers, Bullock calls it an “area to watch”, saying many could find themselves in financial stress.

“Some homeowners may not realise they are fast approaching the end of their five-year term and, if they do nothing, their lender will automatically roll them onto a P&I loan that could be challenging for them to support,” says Zippy Loans’ principal broker Louisa Sanghera.

“Combine this scenario with a slowing of the property market and clients may not have the buffer of equity to soften the blow.”

To the customer, interest-only is an attractive proposition for a number of reasons, from freeing up cash to tax incentives. Additionally, investors have widely financed rental property investments on an IO basis while paying down their owner-occupied P&I loan. Executive director of The Local Loan Company, Ray Hair, observes that it’s a decades-long trend, one that has taken place right under the radar of regulators and banks.

To date, availability has largely driven demand for IO, but with many borrowers now preparing to face the consequences of their honeymoon financial planning, a mounting collection of horror stories could change that.

“Whenever regulators initiate corrective action in a market there is an initial period of over correction, however the pendulum generally swings back to a position of equilibrium. Sadly, this is of little comfort to those caught out by the overnight changes in policy, increased interest rates and institutional disregard for the personal cost,” says Hair.

“Expect to see some very angry investors looking for a lender, broker or adviser to blame, and pay compensation” Ray Hair, The Local Loan Company

Major lenders are preparing their broker networks for further changes to lending criteria, and are actively assessing the terms of loans due to expire to 2022. But with many below the cap and borrowers looking for IO products, the call to return to business as (almost) usual has been too strong to resist.

“We have seen several major lenders loosen the reigns and cut the rates for interest-only loans again, likely because they are sitting below the cap and are looking to add more interest-only loans to their books. It will be interesting to observe whether other lenders follow and how this plays out in terms of consumer behaviour,” says Uno Home Loans CEO Vincent Turner.

The mortgage crunch

In January, UNSW professor of economics Richard Holden published a sobering observation of Australia’s relationship with high-LVR and IO loans. In it he reported Australian banks lend an average 25% more than their US counterparts and that these loans are poorly structured and sometimes based on falsified or inaccurate household finances.

 

A decade ago, US banks learned this lesson the hard way, when five-year adjustable rate mortgages could not be refinanced and the fallout triggered a chain reaction that dragged most of the globe into recession.

In Australia, IO lending has comprised as much as 40% of the loan book at the major banks, and a particularly large share of property investors choose IO. The number of new IO loans is in overall decline, $156bn borrowed in 2015 to $135.5bn in 2017, but their share is still significant. In the owner-occupier market they count for one in four loans, and in the investor market it’s two in three.

“Interest-only loans in Australia typically have a five-year horizon and to date have often been refinanced. If this stops then repayments will soar, adding to mortgage stress, delinquencies, and eventually foreclosures,” Holden told Australian Broker at the time.

“It’s our professional and ethical obligation to look after the best interests of our clients and help them plan strategies” Louisa Sanghera, Zippy Loans

A teacher at the University of Chicago when the US housing market crashed, he added, “The high proportion is similar to the high proportion of adjustable rate mortgages in the US circa 2007.”

So how scared should people be? According to Hair, a lot of people “should be very afraid”, although he says dynamic lending policies, a banking sector unwilling to lose market share and strength in non-bank lenders will dampen some impact.

Quoting the DFA data, he adds, “Unfortunately, there will be pain for highly leveraged borrowers with negative equity, as there has been in the past with an oversupply of apartments, restrictions on non-resident lending and the fall
in property values in mining-dependent regional towns.”

For Turner, the concerns are overstated on a macro level, and reasonable lead times for a switch are all most borrowers will need. However, he warns, “The bigger concern should always be unemployment that triggers substantial hardship, very quickly across a broad group of people, which has the effect of contagion.”

Hero or villain?

While there are many unknowns in how borrowers and lenders will cope with the switch to P&I, what is known is that brokers could find themselves very busy between now and 2022.

“It’s our professional and ethical obligation to look after the best interests of our clients and help them plan strategies that are sustainable and supportive of their personal financial goals,” says Sanghera, who predicts a “positive impact overall” for brokers.

At Zippy Loans active management of IO customers means the lender has very few of the loans on its books. Responding to the rises in interest rate charges over recent months, Zippy has contacted its IO clients to move them onto a workable P&I solution.

“Clients will need to consider a broader range of lending options to find a product that works for them and brokers are ideally placed to research these options on their behalf. I believe this will result in more people turning to brokers to navigate the ever-more complex market place and secure the right solution,” she adds.

Throughout this process, transparency will be key, as Turner notes, “Brokers who continue to push expensive interest-only loans will probably lose business to those who show their customers when P&I works and when IO is the better option. In most cases it isn’t.”

However, brokers will also be the bearers of bad news as some are forced to sell and, according to Hair, it’s likely a lot of disgruntled borrowers will pursue their brokers in the courts, as many have done before when things have not gone their way.

Advising brokers to keep “well documented notes” of original transactions and borrower objectives, as well as subsequent attempts to refinance, he says: “Brokers will be both the heroes and the villains in this pantomime.”

“Expect to see some very angry investors looking for a lender, broker or adviser to blame, and pay compensation, for the position they find themselves in,” he adds.

Is this Australia’s sub-prime crisis? From those in the industry it’s a unanimous no. However that doesn’t mean to say a significant number of borrowers won’t receive a harsh wake-up call.

“The bigger concern should always be unemployment that triggers substantial hardship … which has the effect of contagion” Richard Holden, UNSW

For Holden, the damage has already happened and recent measures are too little too late. Although he refers to tighter lending standards as “comforting”, he says the 30% cap is “about all that can be done” at this point.

Australia’s smaller lenders lack the resources to manage more of the IO debt burden, meaning a mass exodus of customers away from the majors is unlikely. That doesn’t mean to say the majors won’t step up to the potential competition. As Hair predicts,
this could bring some attractive offers for borrowers looking to switch or refinance.

For now, it’s all eyes on the interest rate. On the one hand, no change in the cash rate for 19 months has manufactured a level of stability, on the other it’s delayed the hangover. The IMF has already advised implementation of US-style signalling for potential hikes, although after the last month there is some way to go before reaching the 4% rate it expects to see by late 2019.

Regardless of what happens, some pockets of stress are expected.

Within the industry, brokers have a chance to step up and guide customers through the uncertainties, but the watchful eyes of the regulators will be on them.

A $100bn question remains: how wealthy is the average Australian borrower? Those writing the rulebook say wealthy enough to cover higher mortgage payments. Those who have seen the cycle play out elsewhere, say otherwise.

Trail commissions may lead to “poor customer outcomes,” – CBA

A senior manager of the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has admitted that upfront and trailing commissions for mortgage brokers can lead to poor customer outcomes, as reported in the Australian Broker.

During his 15 March testimony before the Royal Commission, executive general manager of home buying Daniel Huggins said the commission structure is linked to the size of the loan. The longer loan takes to pay off, the larger the trailing commission will be. “[T]hat can lead to a conflict – well, there is a conflict between – between the customer, you know, and – and the broker,” he added.

Huggins confirmed to Senior Counsel Assisting Rowena Orr that brokers can maximise their income by getting the largest possible loan approved to extend over the longest period of time for the customer to repay.

The bank knew about this as early as February 2017, according to a confidential letter by outgoing CBA CEO Ian Narev to Stephen Sedgwick, who was the independent reviewer for the Retail Banking Remuneration Review back then. Orr presented the confidential letter during the hearing.

“We agree with the reviewer’s observations that while brokers provide a service that many potential mortgagees value, the use of loan size linked with upfront and trailing commissions for third parties can potentially lead to poor customer outcomes,” said Narev in the letter.

“We would support elevated controls and measures on incentives relates to mortgages that are consistent with their importance and the nature of the guidance that is provided,” Narev added. These initiatives include delinking of incentives from the value of the loan across the industry, and the potential extension of regulations such as future and financial advice to mortgages in retail banking.

Another CBA submission attached to Narev’s letter said that broker loans are reliably associated with higher leverage compared to those applied through proprietary channels. “[E]ven for customers with an identical estimate of ex ante risk, loans through the broker channel have higher leverage… [and] loans written through the broker channel have a higher incidents of interest only repayments,” it added.

Huggins agreed with Orr that CBA’s submission lends some support to the case for discontinuing the practice of volume-based commissions for third parties. But he said there are a range of considerations that the bank would have to make.

“There is a first mover problem, in that the person who moved first would likely lose a lot of volume. The second problem is you create a conflict if one person, or half of the people move, and the other half don’t,” Huggins said.

According to Huggins, CBA has not stopped paying volume based commissions to brokers. He also confirmed the lender has not taken any steps towards ceasing its practice.

Suncorp Hikes Interest Rates

From Australian Broker

Non-major bank Suncorp has announced it will hike interest rates on all variable rate home and small business loans, starting 28 March.

Variable Owner Occupier Principal and Interest rates will rise by 0.05% p.a., Variable Investor Principal and Interest rates will increase by 0.08% p.a., and Variable Interest Only rates increase go up by 0.12 p.a.

Suncorp’s Variable Small Business rates will increase by 0.15% p.a. and Access Equity (Line of Credit) rates will increase by 0.25% p.a.

The bank’s CEO David Carter said the decision to increase rates was based on increasing costs of funding, as well as meeting the costs associated with regulatory change. The outlook for US interest rates factored in the decision as well. “As a result, we have seen the key base cost of funding, being the three-month Bank Bill Swap Rate (BBSW), rise approximately 0.20%. This increase results in higher interest costs to our wholesale funding, as well as our retail funding portfolio, such as term deposits,” he said in a statement.

According to Suncorp, the “vast majority” of its customers will continue to pay rates well below the headline, due to the products’ various features and benefits.

“It remains our priority to offer a range of competitive products and services to all of our customers. The higher interest costs will benefit our deposit customers, with Suncorp offering attractive rates across term deposit and at call portfolios, including our new Growth Saver product that rewards regular savers with a 2.60% bonus interest rate,” Carter said.

On The Banking Royal Commission

The first full day contained a number of significant revelations, including that millions have been paid by the banks in remediation, the fact that some entities appeared not to be fully cooperating with the Inquiry and others admitted conduct “falling below community standards and expectations”.

Remediation includes $250m to 540,000 home loan customers, relating to fraudulent documents, poor processes and failure in responsible lending practices.  In addition $11m remediation was paid to to 34,000 card customers relating to responsible lending. Also $128m was paid relating to add on services, including a significant amount for car loan add ons and  $900,000 for home loan add ons relating to 10,500 consumers. Also remediation of $90m was paid relating to car loans to around 17,000 consumers relating to fraudulent documentation and responsible lending obligations.

I discussed the issues raised by the first day of the current hearing rounds on ABC Illawarra this morning.

A good summary also from Australian Broker, looking at the NAB “Introducer Programme”.

Banks’ mortgage practices came under heavy scrutiny on Tuesday, as the Royal Commission began the second round of hearings in its inquiry on misconduct in the financial services industry.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the Royal Commission in November last year, to investigate how financial institutions have dealt with misconduct in the past and whether this exposes inherent cultural and governance issues.

According to ASIC figures, banks have paid almost $250m in remediation to almost 540,000 consumers since July 2010 for unacceptable home loan practices. Reuters data show that Australia’s four largest banks – CBA, ANZ, Wetpac, and NAB – hold about 80% of the country’s $1.7trn mortgage market.

During Tuesday’s hearing, officials shone a spotlight on National Australia Bank’s (NAB’s) “introducer program,” which paid third party professionals for referring their customers to the bank for loans. Unlike brokers, they are not required to be licensed or regulated by the National Credit Act.

NAB fired 20 bankers in New South Wales and Victoria last year and disciplined 32 others, after the bank’s review identified around 2,300 home loans since 2013 that may have been submitted with incomplete or incorrect information.

According to Rowena Orr, a barrister assisting the Royal Commission in Melbourne, the bank derived more than $24bn-worth of home loans when the misconduct took place from 2013 to 2016. “The introducer program was extremely profitable for NAB during the period where misconduct occurred, she said.

The Introducer Program still operates up to this day, with some 1,400 “introducers.” There were about 8,000 of them from 2013 to 2016, said NAB banker Anthony Waldron, who was put forth as a witness for the inquiry.

In an open letter released on Monday, NAB CEO Andrew Thorburn described the incident as “regrettable and unacceptable.” He said the bank has made changes to the introducer program, and has also cooperated with the Royal Commission’s requests for information over the last few months.

“The simple fact is that none of these issues are acceptable. They should not have happened in the first place, and they show that we haven’t always done right by our customers or treated the community with respect. This is not good enough,” Thorburn added.

Bluestone Slashes Rates by up to 105 bps

From Australian Broker.

Following rate cuts by a number of mortgage lenders, non-bank player Bluestone Mortgages said yesterday it has cut its interest rates by 75 to 105 basis points across its Crystal Blue products.

The Crystal Blue portfolio includes a range of full and alt doc products that provide lending solutions to established self-employed borrowers (with greater than 24 months trading history), and PAYG borrowers with a clear credit history.

The lender expects the rate reduction, coupled with the 85% low doc option, to drive the uptake of the portfolio. It said its Crystal Blue offering aligns well with a maturing SME market and would resonate well with the growing number of established self-employed borrowers.

The rate cuts come shortly after the company was acquired by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. As Australian Broker reported last month, parent company Bluestone Group UK is fully divesting its interest in Bluestone Mortgages Asia Pacific as part of the acquisition deal.

“As expected, the Cerberus transaction is already enabling the company to actualise a number of imminent opportunities that address current market demands,” said Royden D’Vaz, head of sales and marketing at Bluestone Mortgages.

He said the rate reduction is the beginning of many initiatives the company will implement to enhance or expand its portfolio.

“Self-employed borrowers are becoming increasingly savvy and more open to alternative funding. The sector is also becoming more proactive about seeking advice about the common challenges of managing working capital and/or obtaining financing,” he said.

The lender urges brokers to diversify into specialist lending to help them create loyal customers in the self-employed sector.

“We encourage brokers to embrace specialist lending as part of their dealings and not leave revenue on the table,” said D’Vaz.