Macquarie, CBA and BOQ lament ASIC action

The three major banks named by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) as likely to face court action as part of the fallout from the collapse of Storm Financial have expressed their disappointment at the attitude of the regulator.

The banks — Macquarie Bank, Bank of Queensland (BOQ) and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) — have each used statements to the Australian Securities Exchange to express their disappointment at the ASIC approach. The statements came as the regulator declared it would be pursuing action against Storm principals, Emmanuel and Julie Cassimatis.

ASIC said that it would commence legal proceedings against the three banks if commercial resolution discussions with respect to obtaining compensation for Storm investors were not completed in the interim.

Macquarie Bank said in a statement it believed the claims made by ASIC were unsustainable and speculative, and that an internal review and legal advice had confirmed that Macquarie’s conduct and that of its staff had been “ethical, lawful and professional”.

For its part, CBA pointed to its existing Resolution Scheme and its involvement in commercial discussions with ASIC.

It said it was disappointed that despite ASIC’s public statement that a commercial resolution was the preferable course and that meaningful discussions were continued, the regulator might choose instead to commence legal proceedings.

BOQ said it had cooperated with the regulator for almost 18 months, and had engaged in good faith in the commercial resolution discussion process.

“We are particularly disappointed with the approach ASIC has taken, given that we have been in consultation with them for some time. However, we will continue to act in good faith in our negotiations with ASIC and will of course continue to work one-on-one with BOQ customers who have suffered as a result of Storm’s collapse to provide assistance,” the BOQ statement said.