Reported by Your Investment Property Magazine’s sister publication, Australian Broker, Maria Rigoni, founder and owner of Universal Wealth Management, claimed in an open letter that recent actions taken by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) have left borrowers worse off.
“It is fact that regulators, in recent times, have interfered where they have no right to,” Rigoni wrote.
“ASIC and APRA have caused loan repayments to be more expensive for borrowers and lender profits fatter,” she wrote.
Speaking to Australian Broker, Rigoni said recent moves by ASIC to curtail the growth of interest-only loans had been a major reason behind her open letter.
“Lenders have said ASIC has approached them and ASIC’s opinion is if people want interest-only loans to keep their repayments low then the lender should not accommodate them. The client’s requirements and objectives which make [an interest-only] loan a 'not unsuitable' loan have been ignored,” Rigoni told Australian Broker.
“ASIC are just open-slather going to lenders and saying this is what we believe and it is just nonsense,” she said.
Rigoni told Australian Broker that borrowers are being subject to “subjective judgement calls” from regulators about how they can use their own money and other assets and that current legislation strips borrowers of power and responsibility.
“The NCCP is nonsensical consumer protection. The consumer protection laws are not protecting the consumer and they are not protecting me either," Rigoni told Ausrtralian Broker.
“What I would like to see is a total overhaul of the NCCP. The whole focus of the NCCP does not give any power for a borrower to be a responsible borrower. It is all about the lender having the power and control.”
