ASIC sues Westpac for failing to respond to 229 hardship requests
The corporate regulator will launch legal action against Westpac on Tuesday alleging it failed to respond to requests from hundreds of its customers struggling with loan repayments over a seven-year period, who wanted to enter hardship arrangements with the bank.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission will allege that, between 2015 and 2022, 229 customers told the bank they were experiencing financial hardship, including due to an inability to work, the impact of medical conditions or carer responsibilities. But a deficiency with its online hardship notice process resulted in them not receiving a response to their requests within the required time of 21 days.
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