Category: Banking and Finance
The Banking Royal Commission was established by the Federal Government in December 2017. The Federal Government released the Commission’s Final Report on 4 February 2019. While the Commission has made a number of key recommendations that affect consumer lending, it has resisted making recommendations effecting wholesale change to the banking sector.
The decision of Queensland’s Court of Appeal provides a recent, practical example of the construction of performance securities and of the application of the strict compliance principle when dealing with issues of form.
By a 2-1 majority the Court of Appeal held that a loan establishment fee of $26,625 was a penalty, arguably bucking the trend of decisions since the High Court’s judgment in Paciocco.
This article provides a comprehensive summary of the three Practice Guidelines that have been published by the Financial Services Royal Commission.
This article will give some practical guidance to the Financial Services Royal Commission, its powers, processes and procedures. The next article (Part 2) provides a comprehensive summary of the three Practice Guidelines that have been published by the Financial Services Royal Commission.
This recent decision illustrates how a broad approach to the slip rule allowed the bank to amend its order for possession, despite the same error appearing in the description of the security property on a notice sent under the mortgage, and also in the bank’s statement of claim.
Section 1305 of the Corporations Act is an important tool for practitioners in debt and loan recovery. The section provides that books and records of a company are (1) admissible, and (2) prima facie proof of any matter recorded therein (eg a loan). However, a recent NSW case is a reminder the presumption is rebuttable.
Where one has a purported deed or a ‘heads of agreement’ type of document, when might that document be binding and when might it fall short? And when might someone who has not signed the document still be a ‘party’ to it?
Parties to a contract enter into a further contract by which they vary the original contract terms. Is the effect of the second contract to bring the first contract to an end and to replace it with the second, or to leave the first contract standing, subject to alteration?
Balanced Securities Limited v Dumayne Property Group Pty Ltd [2017] VSCA 61
The Supreme Court of Victoria has partly granted an application by a financier, Equity-One, for summary dismissal of a claim brought against it by a borrower/guarantor. The decision considers the principles applicable to summary dismissal of a claim where allegations of Anshun estoppel and the doctrine of penalties are raised.
For the second time in four years the High Court has considered penalties, but the law remains somewhat fragmented and challenges remain for practitioners seeking to apply it in practice.
The decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeal demonstrates how a strict approach to granting summary judgment still prevails in that jurisdiction. There is in pronounced contrast to the post – Civil Procedure Act landscape in Victoria, where novel claims (unknown to Australian law in its current state) need to be supported by compelling submissions in order to survive the ‘no real prospects of success test’.
While courts have long wrestled with the proper characterisation of parties’ interests in money paid into court, the journey of judicial interpretation of the PPSA has only just begun. In Dura the Victorian Court of Appeal considered whether payments into court gave rise to security interests for the purposes of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) (PPSA).
The decision of the Victorian Court of Appeal confirms that the Banking Code obligation to exercise care skill and diligence in assessing credit can (and will often) be incorporated as a contractual term into guarantees. This finding is likely to affect lenders’ risk assessments when considering ‘riskier’ loans