Is the ComCom “gutless and ineffective” when it comes to protecting Kiwis?

“The Commission needs to grow a pair or move over for an organisation that will act on behalf of hard working Kiwis, not the corporate giants.”

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The Commerce Commission’s agreement with the ANZ bank over swap loans has been branded as both “sad and cynical”, leading to questions of whether it is “gutless and ineffective” when it comes to protecting Kiwis?

Damien O’Connor, Labour’s Primary Industries spokesperson, believes the Commission has found failings by the bank but has instead “let them off the hook with a paltry $18.5 million payment for total absolution.”

According to O’Connor, commenting days the Commerce Commission released draft Final Pricing Principle (FPP) determinations proposing an aggregate price of $38.39, “even Mother Teresa would struggle with this level of forgiveness for a bank that between 2005 and 2009 pocketed $6 billion in pre-tax profits.”

So much so that O’Connor believes the Commerce Commission has now eliminated any possibility of a further investigation into the selling of millions of swap loans by the ANZ to New Zealand farmers between 2005 and 2009.

“The Commission has proved once again it is too gutless to take on the big boys,” he adds.

“This decision fails to expose a practice that misled farmers into taking loans with unknown and hidden costs, leaving thousands out of pocket.

“The supermarkets walked away free, Chorus continues to overcharge for access to its copper network and the banks will now carry on milking farmers.

“The Commission needs to grow a pair or move over for an organisation that will act on behalf of hard working Kiwis, not the corporate giants.”