Storm Financial Group

Smiley · 25 September 2009

Ironhalo, I am a stormified person, and totally endorse and was glad to read your summaries on page 182 of this forum.
I appreciate the work SICAG has done but without critiquing, distancing, and rejecting everything storm, it is a weak vehicle of justice for us. EC and JC and all ex-advisers need to be held to account for their actions.
History will repeat itself; other scammers, conmen will come along and those like us, though hard working and striving to improve our lot, will trust others with our money and jump into a financial planning scheme.
I take responsibility for walking in the doors of storm and not walking out quickly enough when alarm bells rang; but I also am furious that I was blocked from getting out.
Would like to see SICAG ask specifically for EC and JC to be brought to justice, for their assets to be tracked and eveything that can be gotten, taken.
I have spoken to dozens of elderly stormified who are shattered at losing their homes, livelihoods and some of those EC phoned at the last minute end of 2008 to enrich his coffers through new massive loans. Let's see true justice -
Can hardly believe that none of you redcliffe and brisbanites have not asked EC & JC for a bit of camping space on that massive lawn of their belmont palace. I know some people up north who were attracted to the Cassimati's idea of a retirement park - here's their chance to do something for some of the stormfied who are struggling and almost to their last breath.

Ironhalo · 25 September 2009

Thanks for your kind comments Smiley. I hope you and your family are bouncing back.

You are dead right, the only time I will consider this whole debacle done and dusted is when Manny is sitting in shackles contemplating his own greed, and his minions are banned from practising their toxic trade for a long time to come.

specialed · 25 September 2009

Ironhalo, I feel for you as much as everyone else involved in this mess. I suppose I just see little point in criticising what SICAG does or does not have on its website when it is glaringly obvious what they have already managed to achieve for their members. Which I realise you HAVE acknowledged.

If at the end of this mess, SICAG offer their support behind Manny and co, if and when they face charges then some questions will need to be asked. In the meantime, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. It would be litigation suicide to criticise or go after storm while they still might hold information useful in holding the banks to account. Would you provide information and support to someone who was at the same time trying to go after you. The banks obviously are the only institution that is able to provide financial restitution to so many storm investors. No matter how much money Manny is purported to have hidden away, it will not go anywhere close to helping all the storm investors who are currently trying to keep a house over their heads. One fight at a time surely.

And what purpose is served by issuing statements regarding the deficits of the Storm model on the SICAG website. I’m sure the investors are all well aware, as are contributors to this forum of the result of the storm model as they face financial devastation. I don’t see what good will be served by reminding them of it on the SICAG website. There will be plenty of time, and plenty people who will be well informed to do this, following the three current inquires. Remember, SICAG was set up to support its members. If you don’t agree with their modus operandi, then you don’t become a member, its simple. The fruits of their labour will be available to members and non members alike. In the meantime the intellectual capacity of the contributors to this forum may be put to better use in petitioning the banks to explain to its shareholders why the their CEO’s continue to get pay rises in the face of what have been appalling banking practices rather than worrying about what SICAG is doing or not doing. I do think it will be a shame if the only people to face charges at the end of this are EC and co, when it is becoming obvious that a number of the banks have engaged in quite deceptive practices. I draw your attention to the differences in CBA and BOQ submissions compared to the evidence they have been forced to give at the inquiry.

Ironhalo · 25 September 2009

Totally agree Specialed, but keeping Manny 'close' isn't really a valid game plan mate, the lawyers, ASIC and all involved have enough dirt on him that they won't need his collaboration. Not that Manny has anything of substance to add anyway.

The sad thing is, is that Manny has tried on many occasions to distance himself from his own mess....I found the way he tried to table documents that could obviously incriminate him at the parliamentary hearing was laughable, and I'm glad the committee jumped all over him for it early!

Interesting to see how Monday goes and whether Julie will be 'feeling unwell.'

Big Max · 25 September 2009

specialed said:
Ironhalo, I feel for you as much as everyone else involved in this mess. I suppose I just see little point in criticising what SICAG does or does not have on its website when it is glaringly obvious what they have already managed to achieve for their members. Which I realise you HAVE acknowledged.

If at the end of this mess, SICAG offer their support behind Manny and co, if and when they face charges then some questions will need to be asked. In the meantime, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. It would be litigation suicide to criticise or go after storm while they still might hold information useful in holding the banks to account. Would you provide information and support to someone who was at the same time trying to go after you. The banks obviously are the only institution that is able to provide financial restitution to so many storm investors. No matter how much money Manny is purported to have hidden away, it will not go anywhere close to helping all the storm investors who are currently trying to keep a house over their heads. One fight at a time surely.

And what purpose is served by issuing statements regarding the deficits of the Storm model on the SICAG website. I’m sure the investors are all well aware, as are contributors to this forum of the result of the storm model as they face financial devastation. I don’t see what good will be served by reminding them of it on the SICAG website. There will be plenty of time, and plenty people who will be well informed to do this, following the three current inquires. Remember, SICAG was set up to support its members. If you don’t agree with their modus operandi, then you don’t become a member, its simple. The fruits of their labour will be available to members and non members alike. In the meantime the intellectual capacity of the contributors to this forum may be put to better use in petitioning the banks to explain to its shareholders why the their CEO’s continue to get pay rises in the face of what have been appalling banking practices rather than worrying about what SICAG is doing or not doing. I do think it will be a shame if the only people to face charges at the end of this are EC and co, when it is becoming obvious that a number of the banks have engaged in quite deceptive practices. I draw your attention to the differences in CBA and BOQ submissions compared to the evidence they have been forced to give at the inquiry.

specialed, where have you been all my (ASF) life? Your posts are a breath of fresh air. Ironhalo, remember the ancient and tested Chinese military strategy: WHEN ATTEMPTING THE IMPOSSIBLE, DO THE UNEXPECTED. I'll shout you a dim sim when all this is over.

Julia · 25 September 2009

Ironhalo said:
Specialed, trust me mate, I was a Storm 'victim', as well as most of my family. I place blame on my own shoulders, the banks for giving me a margin loan and then selling it at rock bottom three and a half weeks later, but mostly to the schmucks at Storm who ignored my phone-calls when I was trying to find out what was going on; and to Emmanuel/Julie Cassimatis for forcing their staff not to sell anyone's positions up, when some of the Storm advisers were doing the very same with their own investments.

As it was said in the parliamentary hearing, thousands of people around Australia were getting margin calls in the thick of the GFC. Why was it that it seemed only Storm clients were the ones who were only getting told by their advisers they were in margin call when they were 20-30% into negative equity? It the banks were solely to blame, then we would be hearing about the other thousands of non-Storm customers who were screwed by the CBA/Colonial/BoQ/Mac Bank. You know why we haven't? Because they all had advisers who did the job they were paid and entrusted with, which was monitoring THEIR client's investments. Sure they may have lost some money when they converted to cash, but I can guarantee a fair majority of them would be back in the market, and not many of them would have had their houses sold from under them.

What really offends me, is that the perpetrators of this neglect are sitting in a palatial mansion barely over the other side of Moreton Bay in Brisbane, and yet no one seems to begrudge this. What is wrong with you people? Of course Manny took your money! He's probably online right now, checking his Swiss/Cayman Island balance and breathing a sigh of relief that he was able to offload it all offshore before it all hit the fan! And yet they both talk of 'seeking justice for their clients'. Here's the calibre of the people who were the architects of your downfall:
- They depleted a company that was managing billions of dollars worth of investments of over $20+ million dollars in the space of a few months. No one knows where this money went to this day, and yet the fact a company so large can go under due to a bank asking for about $20 million to be repaid is truly laughable. But it's the banks fault that Storm were insolvent due to the Cassimatis' addiction to extracting the majority of the company's revenue into their own personal bank accounts, obviously.
- They bullied clients who tried to forcibly sell out and told them to 'stick with their plan'.
- They gave 'private loans' to some customers....who knows, did this money recycle its way back in to their hands a few months later?
- When it all went downhill they fired their 110-120+ staff without pay or entitlements....but not before trying to backdoor another $3+ million into their own coffers by signing a family member to their now depleted board.
- It appears they had inadequate insurance.
- They made no submission to parliament to explain their actions.
- When asked to explain what went wrong in person, they throw sickies.
- They try and admit evidence to a parliamentary hearing so that they can't be held accountable for the same evidence in a legal setting.

The SICAG website says 'we're angry as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!'. You bloody well should be. No one expects SICAG to do detective work to bring Manny down for his crimes and neglect. But it would be sure as hell nice to see a little bit of responsibility thrown on the Cassimatis shoulders on the website. Why is it that the name Cassimatis has not been used in vain ONCE on that website? I understand going after the banks for compensation, hell take what you can get, power to you. But would it hurt to blame Storm too? Apparently, that's a no go area, and no one can tell us why. Does a child in Ethiopia die if the name 'Cassimatis' appears on the SICAG site in the form of some news update? I am sure there are a lot of SICAG members who are wondering the same thing. Tell me, were these members contacted by Redcliffe ex-Storm personnel like my family were; pompously seeking trail commissions on the pre-paid interest refunds from the failed margin loans these same people marketed so fiercely?

And yet you hardcore SICAG members wonder why some people looking at this objectively and with a small sense of renewed pessimism/caution, may wonder what the underlying SICAG agenda is; or more accurately, why some SICAG affiliates/relatives are swooping over the vulnerable SICAG congregation like carrion birds? But no, don't ask questions, because like the US Patriot Act, 'you're either with us, or against us.' You refer to our comments as 'idiotic', 'un-informed' and goad us to renounce our views using your fanatical, chest-beating zealotry.

Seriously, some of you need to wake up. It's that same blind faith that got you into this situation.

Ironhalo, you've made many excellent posts throughout this thread, and this is yet another example of your providing the questions that so need to be asked.

specialed said:
Something tells me Ironhalo will not show up. The fear of being shown exactly how ridiculous and uninformed so many of the contributions to this forum have been will be enough to keep those who continue to espouse ridiculous conspiracy theories away...but they do make entertaining reading, I have never been so interested in reading fiction.

Specialed, You are of course under no obligation to explain anything to us, but I'm interested to know your own involvement in this? Are you yourself a Storm investor who has experienced significant losses?

I wonder why you feel it necessary to make personal and sarcastic attacks in your responses, rather than offer a reasoned defence of whatever your stand is?

Judd said:
The CBA didn't actually say what you claim but putting that aside I would appreciate your view on these aspects:

Was the data only inaccurate when the market was sinking or was it always inaccurate from say 2002?

If the data being supplied to Storm was inaccurate during the market downturn, especially over the period October-November, why was it sufficiently accurate enough for the other 7,000 dealer groups with CGI margin loans to be able to deal effectively with their client's funds?

To put it another way, why couldn't Storm do the same as the other dealer groups in managing their clients funds when they were, presumably, receiving the same inaccurate information as Storm was?

Exactly.

specialed said:
That is an interesting proposition. If they were indeed recieving the same inaccurate data that it appears (or is proposed) that storm clients were able to access, then maybe they should also be asking of their advisors, "Was the data accurate".

I see Commsec on TV every night,

Does this mean that this TV broadcast is your sole means of accessing market information?

and if the CBA they couldn't ensure that the CGI data was always acurate, how can i be sure about other CBA owned entities. And secondly, were the other dealer groups, all 7000, dealing with a specific "Storm badged or branded" fund that was sold up, after clients were pushed significantly beyond the LVR that they had agreed, or thought they had, with the CBA. Who i might add the CBA had a contractual agreement with.....

You seem to rather be missing the point of the question.

specialed said:
Ironhalo, I feel for you as much as everyone else involved in this mess. I suppose I just see little point in criticising what SICAG does or does not have on its website when it is glaringly obvious what they have already managed to achieve for their members. Which I realise you HAVE acknowledged.

If at the end of this mess, SICAG offer their support behind Manny and co, if and when they face charges then some questions will need to be asked. In the meantime, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. It would be litigation suicide to criticise or go after storm while they still might hold information useful in holding the banks to account. Would you provide information and support to someone who was at the same time trying to go after you. The banks obviously are the only institution that is able to provide financial restitution to so many storm investors.

You, and others on this thread, don't seem to perceive the immorality implied in focusing purely on the banks just on the basis they are the ones which obviously have the money. The banks should be required to provide compensation directly in accordance with what they may have done wrong, no more and no less.

No matter how much money Manny is purported to have hidden away, it will not go anywhere close to helping all the storm investors who are currently trying to keep a house over their heads. One fight at a time surely.

That does not remove the need for clarity and fairness in the attribution of blame to be properly stated.

And what purpose is served by issuing statements regarding the deficits of the Storm model on the SICAG website. I’m sure the investors are all well aware, as are contributors to this forum of the result of the storm model as they face financial devastation. I don’t see what good will be served by reminding them of it on the SICAG website.

For the reason offered above.

Rainbow · 25 September 2009

DocK said:
Hi Rainbow,

If you don't mind me asking - did you receive any communication from either Macquarie or your "adviser" prior to the margin call at 137% lvr? I find it absolutely amazing that the lvr was permitted to deteriorate to such a ridiculous level before any action was taken???? Do you know why you weren't sold out earlier? I'm assuming you weren't aware of the situation yourself?

Sorry to hear you're now stuck with your kids (joking) but it's extremely fortunate for you that Macquarie aren't going to pursue you for the outstanding loan amount - is it because they stuffed up perhaps?

They didn't take action, because they were too busy making a dollar at my expense....

I wasn't particularly worried, would you believe. I totally trusted my advisor... stupidly had ''all my eggs in one basket'' so to speak, because he said there was "no risk". In the event of a margin call, he told me that Storm would lend me the money, I would repay them at a later date (after the market bounced back presumably) I was annoyed by the calls from Macquarie - I'd never once spoken to anyone before - I just told them what my advisor said to say which was to call them at Storm. Eventually, the account went into negative equity of $24,000 - after I had lost my $1.4m portfolio. I was reassured not to worry, Storm said they'd pay the negative equity... I signed a form to say I'd pay them back.. and it was all supposed to be sweet.

Just what the wolf told Little Red Riding Hood....

I figure it's probably one of the banks who bought my shares in the end... might even be Macquarie... what a bargain they would have gotten them for,
plus an extra bonus of negative equity on top (provided they could squeeze it out of you) ... and they make noises about compensating people... you know they just can't - they can only give us their dirty money

carey ramm · 25 September 2009

Specialed let me provide an informed view on how this will turn out. Where a bank has questionable lending practices in relation to a home equity loan a settlement will be reached - the victim will be unhappy. There may in some cases also be some limited compensation on the portfolio where negative equity and buffers were breached on margin loans (but this is still uncertain). Rest assured that at the end of the day the victims will be better off than they were in January but lets face it they will still be unhappy and wiped out as a result of Manny and the Storm Advisers. These people need to be held accountable.

The reality is Storm and their advisors have done nothing to help their victims and the enquiry transcripts show this. If anything these advisers have helped the banks in terms of the home equity loans by saying no-one did anything wrong. Yes Jelich has said a few things but the others have all been trying to save their wretched skin.

In speaking with many of the victims the one thing they want to see above all else is that Storm and their advisers are bought to justice so other people in the future dont find themselves in the horrible position they are in.

Many of these advisers are now working back in the industry, some are even contacting victims trying to get business from them. Here are just a few of these advisors i looked at recently:

Trevor BENSON- INFOCUS SECURITIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD. ASIC Authorised Representatives # 242673

Wally FULLERTON SMITH- INFOCUS SECURITIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD- ASIC Authorised Representatives 242814

Andrew O'BRIEN INFOCUS SECURITIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD. ASIC Authorised Representatives # 237913

Robert JONES- INFOCUS SECURITIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD- ASIC Authorised Representatives # 284593

Other advisors are with - DOVER FINANCIAL ADVISERS PTY LTD

Stuart DRUMMOND- DRUMMOND FINANCIAL PLANNING PTY LTD Authorised Representatives # 335440- DOVER FINANCIAL ADVISERS PTY LTD Licensee # 307248 –

David MCCULLOCH- MCCULLOCH FINANCIAL PLANNING PTY LTD- Authorised Representatives # 334559- DOVER FINANCIAL ADVISERS PTY LTD Licensee # 307248 –

Terry WEBB- TERRY WEBB FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD- Authorised Representatives # 335439 DOVER FINANCIAL ADVISERS PTY LTD Licensee # 307248

So yes it is very important to stand up and protect new people from falling victims. I think it is very important that everyone, including SICAG, stand up and be counted and make sure that old tricks and flawed models are not being used again.

Ironhalo · 25 September 2009

Well said Carey.

At the end of the day, confining the carriage of 'justice' onto those who simply have the most money isn't justice, it's litigation.

It would be akin to taking the rich parents of a 15 year old child rapist to court for damages if their son assaulted your daughter, under the allegation that his parents 'helped create him into who he is.' You and your family might get some money out of it, but at the end of the day justice wouldn't really have been served, and you'll end up regretting it when someone else gets assaulted by the same person further down the track.

Strong analogy, I know.

Rainbow · 25 September 2009

Ironhalo said:
Specialed, trust me mate, I was a Storm 'victim', as well as most of my family. I place blame on my own shoulders, the banks for giving me a margin loan and then selling it at rock bottom three and a half weeks later, but mostly to the schmucks at Storm who ignored my phone-calls when I was trying to find out what was going on; and to Emmanuel/Julie Cassimatis for forcing their staff not to sell anyone's positions up, when some of the Storm advisers were doing the very same with their own investments.

As it was said in the parliamentary hearing, thousands of people around Australia were getting margin calls in the thick of the GFC. Why was it that it seemed only Storm clients were the ones who were only getting told by their advisers they were in margin call when they were 20-30% into negative equity? It the banks were solely to blame, then we would be hearing about the other thousands of non-Storm customers who were screwed by the CBA/Colonial/BoQ/Mac Bank. You know why we haven't? Because they all had advisers who did the job they were paid and entrusted with, which was monitoring THEIR client's investments. Sure they may have lost some money when they converted to cash, but I can guarantee a fair majority of them would be back in the market, and not many of them would have had their houses sold from under them.

What really offends me, is that the perpetrators of this neglect are sitting in a palatial mansion barely over the other side of Moreton Bay in Brisbane, and yet no one seems to begrudge this. What is wrong with you people? Of course Manny took your money! He's probably online right now, checking his Swiss/Cayman Island balance and breathing a sigh of relief that he was able to offload it all offshore before it all hit the fan! And yet they both talk of 'seeking justice for their clients'. Here's the calibre of the people who were the architects of your downfall:
- They depleted a company that was managing billions of dollars worth of investments of over $20+ million dollars in the space of a few months. No one knows where this money went to this day, and yet the fact a company so large can go under due to a bank asking for about $20 million to be repaid is truly laughable. But it's the banks fault that Storm were insolvent due to the Cassimatis' addiction to extracting the majority of the company's revenue into their own personal bank accounts, obviously.
- They bullied clients who tried to forcibly sell out and told them to 'stick with their plan'.
- They gave 'private loans' to some customers....who knows, did this money recycle its way back in to their hands a few months later?
- When it all went downhill they fired their 110-120+ staff without pay or entitlements....but not before trying to backdoor another $3+ million into their own coffers by signing a family member to their now depleted board.
- It appears they had inadequate insurance.
- They made no submission to parliament to explain their actions.
- When asked to explain what went wrong in person, they throw sickies.
- They try and admit evidence to a parliamentary hearing so that they can't be held accountable for the same evidence in a legal setting.

The SICAG website says 'we're angry as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!'. You bloody well should be. No one expects SICAG to do detective work to bring Manny down for his crimes and neglect. But it would be sure as hell nice to see a little bit of responsibility thrown on the Cassimatis shoulders on the website. Why is it that the name Cassimatis has not been used in vain ONCE on that website? I understand going after the banks for compensation, hell take what you can get, power to you. But would it hurt to blame Storm too? Apparently, that's a no go area, and no one can tell us why. Does a child in Ethiopia die if the name 'Cassimatis' appears on the SICAG site in the form of some news update? I am sure there are a lot of SICAG members who are wondering the same thing. Tell me, were these members contacted by Redcliffe ex-Storm personnel like my family were; pompously seeking trail commissions on the pre-paid interest refunds from the failed margin loans these same people marketed so fiercely?

And yet you hardcore SICAG members wonder why some people looking at this objectively and with a small sense of renewed pessimism/caution, may wonder what the underlying SICAG agenda is; or more accurately, why some SICAG affiliates/relatives are swooping over the vulnerable SICAG congregation like carrion birds? But no, don't ask questions, because like the US Patriot Act, 'you're either with us, or against us.' You refer to our comments as 'idiotic', 'un-informed' and goad us to renounce our views using your fanatical, chest-beating zealotry.

Seriously, some of you need to wake up. It's that same blind faith that got you into this situation.

I'm angry... really angry to see that these 'advisors' are still registered. Thanks Stuart if you're out there... it was great advice... I just live living in a brisbane caravan park full-time with barely enough money at the end of the week to feed myself... thank god for cheap cask wine....

"The RBA said the financial system had continued to perform strongly
over the past six months and the banks had reported solid profits
through the turmoil.

"The Australian banking sector has reported solid profits, and has
further strengthened its capital position; the largest banks have
maintained their high credit ratings," it said.

It noted the four major banks - Westpac Corp, Commonwealth Bank of
Australia Ltd, National Australia Bank Ltd, ANZ Banking Group Ltd -
had recorded total headline net profits of around $8.6 billion in the
latest half year. This was based on reporting periods to March for
three of the banks and to June for the fourth."

My partner and I have been tossing around heading out to Manny's place
at Gumdale to camp overnight. We thought we'd have a sausage sizzle/
torch ceremony while we were there. We figure since he left us in the
gutter, he won't mind sharing his overnight. We're just busy
collecting bank flags for the ceremonial side of things.

Ironhalo · 25 September 2009

You should be bloody angry mate. The fact that some of them have been calling SICAG/ex-Storm members off their old clients lists to drum up new business is an offence to all five senses.

-Bevo- · 25 September 2009

carey ramm said:
Specialed let me provide an informed view on how this will turn out. Where a bank has questionable lending practices in relation to a home equity loan a settlement will be reached - the victim will be unhappy. There may in some cases also be some limited compensation on the portfolio where negative equity and buffers were breached on margin loans (but this is still uncertain). Rest assured that at the end of the day the victims will be better off than they were in January but lets face it they will still be unhappy and wiped out as a result of Manny and the Storm Advisers. These people need to be held accountable.

The reality is Storm and their advisors have done nothing to help their victims and the enquiry transcripts show this. If anything these advisers have helped the banks in terms of the home equity loans by saying no-one did anything wrong. Yes Jelich has said a few things but the others have all been trying to save their wretched skin.

In speaking with many of the victims the one thing they want to see above all else is that Storm and their advisers are bought to justice so other people in the future dont find themselves in the horrible position they are in.

Many of these advisers are now working back in the industry, some are even contacting victims trying to get business from them. Here are just a few of these advisors i looked at recently:

Trevor BENSON- INFOCUS SECURITIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD. ASIC Authorised Representatives # 242673

Wally FULLERTON SMITH- INFOCUS SECURITIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD- ASIC Authorised Representatives 242814

Andrew O'BRIEN INFOCUS SECURITIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD. ASIC Authorised Representatives # 237913

Robert JONES- INFOCUS SECURITIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD- ASIC Authorised Representatives # 284593

Other advisors are with - DOVER FINANCIAL ADVISERS PTY LTD

Stuart DRUMMOND- DRUMMOND FINANCIAL PLANNING PTY LTD Authorised Representatives # 335440- DOVER FINANCIAL ADVISERS PTY LTD Licensee # 307248 –

David MCCULLOCH- MCCULLOCH FINANCIAL PLANNING PTY LTD- Authorised Representatives # 334559- DOVER FINANCIAL ADVISERS PTY LTD Licensee # 307248 –

Terry WEBB- TERRY WEBB FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD- Authorised Representatives # 335439 DOVER FINANCIAL ADVISERS PTY LTD Licensee # 307248

So yes it is very important to stand up and protect new people from falling victims. I think it is very important that everyone, including SICAG, stand up and be counted and make sure that old tricks and flawed models are not being used again.

Someone should contact A Current Affair, Today Tonight have them run another story about the advisers above working again as Financial Planners.

Solly · 25 September 2009

"Former Storm CEO testifies at hearing"

"The former chief executive of former Townsville-based company Storm Financial, Michael Fenech, is being questioned in the Federal Court about the company's $80 million collapse."

More from The ABC here;

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/25/2696499.htm

Solly · 25 September 2009

"Storm advisers led jet-set life"

"The second day of a public examination in the Federal Court in Brisbane on Friday heard from Michael Fenech, the former director of the failed financial advisory company's research arm.

He told the examination that one year before Storm's demise, directors had no idea the company was about to collapse, with a June 2008 budget document forecasting a profit for the year ahead."

More here from David Barbeler from AAP on Fairfax's Trading Room.

http://www.tradingroom.com.au/apps/view_breaking_news_article.ac?page=/data/news_research/published/2009/9/268/catf_090925_151100_8860.html

Ironhalo · 25 September 2009

I remember hearing during my time with Storm that one of the aviation-keen advisers was using the jet to help get a pilot's licence. Can't remember who told me that, but it was always a rumour that gave me a laugh.

darkside · 25 September 2009

Max Max Max. !

What Tha ,,

I have been away for a few weeks , just got back to the site tonight and see i have been included in one of your "rants" , this is after you went out of your way to correct the record and apologise to me on this thread.

I have to take Ironhalo's stance on this , ,"what" ,were you drunk, on Crystal Meth, free basing , or just licking cane toads when you wrote your vitirolic posts to us ..

Wow media work must be lining up for you !!! SIGAC must be proud, and what happened to the money spiders while i was away , do they hibernate for summer !!!??????

Solly · 25 September 2009

Ironhalo said:
I remember hearing during my time with Storm that one of the aviation-keen advisers was using the jet to help get a pilot's licence. Can't remember who told me that, but it was always a rumour that gave me a laugh.

This would sure beat learning to drive on a Bonanza or a 172 like other civilian mortals.

specialed · 25 September 2009

Judd and Julia,

I refer you to comments made in Sydney by Mr Ian Narev for the CBA

"Again, we are unable to verify, given the nature of the information, that every unit price for every customer over the period was up to date." and further "So we do know that substantially all the information was provided and it was substantially correct, at a minimum. And further still, “We know that our systems were substantially
reliable. Substantially, as you have identified, does not equal completely, because we cannot at this point say they were completely reliable But that does not mean that in isolated cases there may have been problems." Pg 66 and 77 of the Hansard from Sydney..

With regards to Commsec, I simply make the point that it is another vehicle by which investors, online are able to monitor their investments. How can CBA guarantee the accuracy of the information provided through this but not through the CGI software. Would you be comfortable if told that the information in your super, or your portfolio’s is “substantially correct”. Personally I want it wholly correct, and would not want to be one of the “isolated cases” during a stock market crash.

In answer to your question, my family has suffered significant loses in this mess.

Yes, blame does need to be apportioned properly, and time will tell where the blame lies, I think we all know this already. Why ASIC is taking so long I do find perplexing.

I have never stated implicitly or explicitly that the Storm advisors were not negligent in carrying out their duties with respect to issuing margin loans. I have simply made observations regarding some astounding theories that I have read in this forum regarding the motives and makeup of SICAG. Most of which appear to be based on rumour or hunches rather than fact.

You are right, I have never seen the issue of blame as one of morality . I see it as an issue of survival for many people, and therefore I believe SICAG should fight one battle at a time. I have never advocated not going after Storm, but at the moment, storm has no capacity to save investors homes. I just question the value in a small volunteer group making muddy waters muddier by investing resources in blaming Storm and then the ensuing efforts to justify this blame. Surely this will take their focus away from what should be the main game. Saving their homes, and for many their health and wellbeing.

Solly · 26 September 2009

"Storm associate lands on his feet"

"MICHAEL FENECH'S close association with Storm Financial's founders does not appear to have harmed his career prospects - Emmanuel and Julie Cassimatis's former board colleague is going to work for ANZ in Singapore.

A career banker, Mr Fenech was the chief executive and director of Ignite Financial Systems and Research....."

More by Cosima Marriner in the SMH here;

http://www.smh.com.au/business/storm-associate-lands-on-his-feet-20090925-g697.html

Solly · 26 September 2009

"Rules tighten on margin lending"

"The new rules are in part a response to the Storm Financial scandal, where investors face financial ruin after being encouraged to take out margin loans without understanding the risks."

More by Geoffrey Newman in The Australian here;

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,26125768-36418,00.html

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