Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

Storm Financial Group

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Point taken, Smiley, and neither would I believe everything a socalled Financial Adviser tells me! Can anybody tell me what their specific educational and professional prerequisites are? I heard a whisper that the intrepid Emmanuel Cassimatis has applied for a new Financial Adviser's license; is that something else I should not believe?

What bothers me most about this model of endless greed is that there seemed to have been no end-point. Did the individuals who engaged in this debt-upon-debt arrangement have any specific target in mind when they would sell out, pay off their loans, and be happy with what they had got?
 
"We won't benefit from Storm loans: CBA"

''It has been reported that we will capitalise the deferred interest and add it to the debt at the end of the suspension period, with the suggestion that we will gain from this,'' Commonwealth Bank said in a statement. ''We have never said this and it has never been our intention.''

I stand corrected my interperation of the Comm Bank Media Release was wrong.

More here by Chris Zappone in Business Day;

http://business.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/we-wont-benefit-from-storm-loans-cba-20090624-cwjk.html
 
onlooker - i could be wrong but the application form for the lady with the $104k per month salary was a personal client of EC and to the untrained eye (such as me) it certainly looked like EC's handwriting. Also the lady did happen to mention to me that EC kindly filled the forms out. Maybe Storm just got so used to having zeros everywhere that they just added a few to $104 out of habit.
 
Carey Ramm, very interesting! There is one victim who seemed genuine enough and gullible enough to have been talked into something she was completely unfamiliar with. As for many of the other more 'able-bodied' players who now scream they have been wronged, they sound a little bit like the former Sydney Ferries boss who has just appeared on the ABC's 7 o'clock news, claiming he had run up some $200,000 worth of private purchases on his company credit card "because nobody told me not to" (totally apropos but you get the drift, don't you?) This culture of going for broke and then, if caught, hoping for some sort of divine intervention has become far too ingrained in our country. Whatever happened to common sense and personal responsibility? The rest of us have to pay for this "privatise gains, socialise losses" attitude!
 
carey ramm said:
The Front Page of Every Newspaper Tomorrow!!

Slater & Gordon and Commonwealth Bank map way forward for Storm clients

National law firm Slater & Gordon and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) will implement an accelerated resolution process designed to achieve a fair and equitable outcome for former Storm Financial clients who entered loan agreements with CBA or Colonial Geared Investments.

Key features of the process include:
· An individual review by CBA of each client’s circumstances assessed against a framework developed in consultation with S&G;
· Full and frank disclosure of documents and facts relevant to each client by CBA;
· The provision by S&G of independent legal and financial advice paid for by CBA;
· A commitment to good faith negotiations; and
· Former High Court Justice Ian Callinan as an independent arbitrator where agreement cannot be reached between CBA and the client.

S&G and CBA have nominated a group of S&G clients, selected at random, to take part in the resolution process.

The process does not prejudice the ASIC investigation that is ongoing or anything flowing from that investigation.

CBA has agreed that any clients who participate in the process will still be able to participate in any outcome arising from the ASIC investigation, on the basis that they are placed in no worse position as a result of participation in the process.

CBA has also agreed that any client who is dissatisfied with an arbitrated outcome remains free to pursue any legal remedy available to that person.


Now i am sure that this will be very welcome news to all those storm victims who regsitered with Slater and Gordon. It is a great outcome and avoids lengthy litigation.
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This is a welcome step for the many hundreds of CBA clients who are struggling to retain the family home. The fact that the CBA have now been dragged to the table given their earlier statements is due in no small part to the work done by you, S&G and some tenacious types in the media. Well done to all who have got the action this far.

Would think this places BoQ in a very uncomfortable position, hopefully they finally start to show some leadership and act responsibly rather than hiding in the hope it will all go away. Any diminution of shareholder value stemming from this is the sole responsibility of its North Ward branch and the management who allowed the activities to continue unrestrained.
 
And as Carey stated above, it's now hitting the wires (or wireless if on UMTS ;))

"CBA, law firm agree to Storm negotiations"

"The Commonwealth Bank may have avoided a class action from Storm Financial clients it lent to.

The bank has been accused of irresponsibly lending to people who invested through Storm, with some losing their house as a result of the collapse of the Townsville-based financial adviser."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/24/2607635.htm
 
Did anyone listen to the first of the public hearings into the collapse of Storm , Opes Prime and others as ASIC appeared?:( I missed it.
 
So , if the CBA has to hand back "bucket loads" of cash to aggrieved "stormers" will this effect their share price, their dividends and also the future direction of the bank. Surely there must be some shareholders with an opinion on this ..
 
From;

http://www.commbank.com.au/about-us/news/media-releases/2009/240609-storm-customers.aspx

"Commonwealth Bank commits to Storm customers"

24 June 2009: The Commonwealth Bank restated today its commitment to identifying and resolving any shortcomings in how the Bank lent money to Commonwealth Bank customers involved with Storm Financial Ltd.
The Bank stated:
Where we have done wrong, we will put it right. This can only be done on a case-by-case basis.
We will suspend repayments on customer loan obligations until 31 August, 2009.
It has been reported that we will capitalise the deferred interest and add it to the debt at the end of the suspension period, with the suggestion that we will gain from this. We have never said this and it has never been our intention. We will ensure no customer will pay additional interest as a result of this payment suspension, and any customer who has been identified as being wronged by the Bank will have this interest waived altogether in the overall settlement.
We restate our commitment that no customer will be disadvantaged as a result of any shortcomings identified in the Bank’s lending practices, however the Bank is not responsible for the financial advice provided independently by Storm Financial.
Any settlement agreed between the Bank and its customers, either in the past or future, will be improved should the Bank be required to do so to meet its obligations.

The Bank remains committed to an accelerated resolution process for its customers. To expedite this process the Bank is continuing to offer assistance in paying for independent legal and financial advice.
In addition, the Bank is working with law firm Slater & Gordon to implement an accelerated resolution process. The Bank is also working with former High Court Justice Ian Callinan to achieve independent and fair outcomes for customers.
The Bank again appealed to customers experiencing hardship to contact the Bank to discuss their situation.
 
Onlooker said:
This culture of going for broke and then, if caught, hoping for some sort of divine intervention has become far too ingrained in our country. Whatever happened to common sense and personal responsibility? The rest of us have to pay for this "privatise gains, socialise losses" attitude!
Click to expand...
I strongly agree about this. (And in a general sense, not having specifically a go at Stormers here.)

ABC Radio's early hours talkback programme last night was on "Super" and the number of financially illiterate people phoning in was unbelievable.
No understanding that Super is simply a vehicle for holding assets in a tax advantaged situation and absolutely no clue from most of them that if they'd simply been following the daily reports of markets being savaged, they could have instructed their Super funds to switch to the Cash option.

I didn't hear one person suggest that e.g." well, I've really learned something through this downturn and that is that I need to acquire some knowledge and start taking some personal responsibility for my own outcomes."


darkside said:
So , if the CBA has to hand back "bucket loads" of cash to aggrieved "stormers" will this effect their share price, their dividends and also the future direction of the bank. Surely there must be some shareholders with an opinion on this ..
Click to expand...
Darkside, CBA have stated that the amounts involved with the Storm mess are immaterial to their total situation, so I don't think the shareholders will be too worried about the bottom line.
If I were still a CBA shareholder I'd be much happier to think that the bank is fulfilling its responsibilities, albeit somewhat belatedly.
 
Quincy said:
I wonder if Ron Jelich obtained Andrew Symonds' ("one of my clients") authority to divulge details about Mr. Symonds' personal dealings with Jelich and Storm and the CBA etc. in his submission ?
Click to expand...

So true Quincy - of course Ron Jelich has, as he is a Finanical Planner NOT. I love Jelich being quoted as 'my clients this and my clients that' the fact remains he would have not signed one statement of advice. Sure he would of been in the room nodding his approval at 7% commission - endorsing, if not presenting himself only to have someone like Andrew O'Brien sign off on the SOA.

If you want a good laugh read his submission to the Senate Comittee, especially the part where he reckons he was conned by EC. That makes EC the guy that sells the ice to the guy who sells it to the Eskimos. High praise indeed from someone who is not qualified but has conned ASIC by his non compliance and non qualified advice. Maybe I'm a cynic but should he be a free man given the blantant flouting of the law?
My accountant is s#%t scared to even go near the topic of fin planning as he does not hold the necessary ticket to give advice to the public - and then there is Jelich....
 
What bothers me most about this model of endless greed is that there seemed to have been no end-point. Did the individuals who engaged in this debt-upon-debt arrangement have any specific target in mind when they would sell out, pay off their loans, and be happy with what they had got?[/QUOTE]

Speaking of end points Onlooker I make this point.

After the initial buy-in with Storm I expected maybe two or three added steps over several years. Instead we were advised at least 5 or 6 times in the first 18 months to add to our margin loan.

In one of the meetings I asked our advisor "when does this all end? when does the time come when we sit back and say enough?" Astonishingly he replied that it "never ends"!

I knew with that reply that I needed to start taking some control over my situation and perhaps not follow the advisor's strong recommendations to the letter. Alas the market declined and I never got my chance to develop a backbone.
 
"Commonwealth Bank plans to right wrongs of Storm Financial debacle"

MORE than 2500 clients of the now-collapsed Storm Financial, who made their disastrous investment on the back of Commonwealth Bank margin loans, could be cleared of debt and have their life savings returned within months.

CBA said yesterday it had "done wrong" to many of its customers and had agreed to an "accelerated resolution process" for those granted margin loans with little hope of repaying the money after last year's stockmarket crash.

More by Michael McKenna in The Australian here;

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25686778-36418,00.html
 
"ASIC goes on defensive as investors unaware of low bar for advisers"

"Australian Securities & Investment Commission chairman Tony D'Aloisio told The Australian last night that while he was yet to be fully briefed on the criticism of ASIC made by inquiry submissions, he believed the regulator was likely to have acted appropriately at the time."

More by Siobhain Ryan in The Australian here;

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25686728-36418,00.html
 
Solly said:
"ASIC close to Storm compensation decision"

"Tentative deadline of August
The corporate regulator plans to make a decision over potential compensation action for Storm Financial investors in the coming months."

More by Kate Kachor in Investor Daily is here;

http://www.investordaily.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/id/style/6784.htm?rdeCOQ=SID-3F579BCE-DE578736
Click to expand...


As stated in the above referenced article by Solly, Mr. D'Aloisio refers to potential "compensataion action". This possible action would be initiated under section 50 powers of the ASIC Act where ASIC fund the action by way of the tax payer. The main criterion for ASIC to declare a section 50 action is that it is considered to be "in the publc interest".

If a section 50 action is declared by ASIC it doesn't mean that compensation is automatically paid to affected investors. It just means that ASIC will use its own nominated legal people and funds to purse the so called "wrong doers".

ASIC would still have to go through the same process as say eg. Slater & Gordon in pursuing recovery litigation. It is a possibility that ASIC won't be able to recover any funds.

Hopefully for Storm investors, ASIC will declare a section 50 action and be successful in obtaining some compensation.
 

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