All quiet on the complaints front over ACR collapse
The collapse of property scheme Australian Capital Reserve (ACR) yesterday has not resulted in significant calls from distressed consumers to financial services or legal organisations.
Financial Industry Complaints Service (FICS) chief executive Alison Maynard said the organisation had received “about five calls in all” from consumers by this morning.
Maynard said the amount of calls suggesting “most investors in ACR had invested directly, as was the case with the recent collapse of (another property scheme) Fincorp”.
A consumer helpline offered by lawyers Slater and Gordon was similarly devoid yesterday of ACR-related enquiries, according to lawyer Ben Whitwell.
He said the helpline had not received any calls by this morning related to ACR, which was handed over to administrator McGrathNicol earlier this week.
It has been reported that up to 7,000 mainly elderly investors could lose up to $300 million in retirement savings through ACR, which issued unsecured deposit notes to retail investors.
However, Whitwell is anticipating that the Slater and Gordon helpline will receive calls after the first creditors meeting, which is scheduled for next week.
“I would anticipate that the situation in our call centre will be markedly different by then, given that ACR went into administration only on Monday.”
He added that it was “way, way too early at this stage” to tell if Slater and Gordon would consider proceeding with a class action on behalf of investors.
“We will have to wait to hear what administrator McGrathNicol has to say on how the product was distributed and marketed.”
Similarly, a Financial Planning Association spokesman said it was “simply too early” to make any assessment of whether any of its members are involved in the ACR collapse.
However, he emphasised that “if it is found that a member has been involved, we will investigate thoroughly, and, if required, deal with it with the appropriate action”.
Richard Klipin, chief executive of the Association of Financial Advisers, said it was “very unlikely any of our members are involved, considering none were involved in the collapse of Westpoint and Fincorp”.
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