08:22The Commonwealth Bank has secured a significant victory at the banking royal commission, with the commission dismissing claims it deliberately defaulted loans of Bankwest customers after it bought the smaller bank in 2008. CBA has been dogged by claims – for years – that it was motivated to impair the loans of some Bankwest SME customers in 2009 and 2010 after it acquired the smaller bank from HBOS in late 2008. Former Bankwest customers have claimed that CBA unnecessarily defaulted their loans for its own financial gain, and their claims eventually led to a parliamentary inquiry in 2015 (thought the inquiry failed to produce a unanimous view on the events). “This ulterior motive theory is not supported by either the facts or the operation of the contractual mechanism,” Hodge said. CBA executives will welcome the news with open arms – for obvious reasons.
Source: The Guardian May 20, 2018 23:07 UTC