AIB OFFERING TRACKER REDRESS, SAYS IMHO - The Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation has written to 4,200 AIB account holders to encourage them to "come forward" if they believe they were "denied their contractual right" to a tracker mortgage after their fixed interest rate periods had expired.
This follows the emergence of a small number of cases involving AIB customers who believe they should have been offered trackers when they came off their fixed rates in the years up to 2011, writes the Irish Times. It also comes hot on the heels of Permanent TSB's financial redress programme for 1,372 mortgage customers for a "failure" to inform them that they could have availed of a cheaper tracker rate from 2006 onwards. In his letter to AIB customers last Friday, David Hall, chief executive of the IMHO, said it believed similar issues had arisen at the State-owned bank and its subsidiary brands, EBS and Haven. "Indeed, we are aware of a number of cases within AIB where customers have been returned to their tracker rate, along with a refund of overcharged interest, having been denied the rate for a number of years," he said.
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BANKRUPTCY DELAY 'COULD LEAVE STATE OPEN TO BEING SUED' - The State has left itself open to being sued by heavily-indebted consumers as it is unable to process bankruptcy applications at the moment, a leading insolvency lawyer said. A staff shortage means no applications for bankruptcy are being accepted at the moment, writes the Irish Independent. Those applying to be declared bankrupt have to submit completed forms to what is called the examiner's office, which forms part of the Courts Service. But debt advisers have been told by the examiner's office it is unable to process bankruptcy applications at present. The examiner's office accepts applications for bankruptcy, reviews the documents submitted and then gets back to those seeking to be declared bankrupt with a court date if the documents are in order. Bill Holohan, senior partner of Holohan Law Solicitors in Cork and Dublin, said the failure to process applications would mean those seeking to make themselves bankrupt would have their rights to seek protection from their creditors violated. He said the failure of the examiner's office to process applications could be seen as an unconstitutional violation of rights of access to the courts, for those seeking to be declared bankrupt.
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BAILEY'S BRITISH FUTURE UNCERTAIN AS LOSSES GROW - A UK-based building firm controlled by the Bailey brothers last year recorded losses of £5.5m (€7.6m). According to new accounts just filed by Bovale Ltd to Companies House in London, accumulated losses at the firm increased from £56.2m to £61.74m in the 15 months to the end of December last, says the Irish Examiner. Last year, Michael and Tom Bailey resigned as directors of their Irish firm, Bovale Developments after they were disqualified for seven years from acting as directors when the High Court found them guilty of "particularly serious" misconduct in the conduct of the affairs of their Irish operations. At the end of last December, the brothers' UK firm had bank loans and overdrafts totalling £90.95m and according to a note attached to the accounts "the loans from Nama are secured by unlimited personal guarantees from two of the company's directors".
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KPMG TO OPEN OWN MAYFAIR MEMBERS CLUB - Accountancy firm KPMG is launching a new private members club in the select Mayfair district of London next month - but the only way of getting on the guest list is by being a client or a partner of the firm. Branded in KPMG marketing material as No. 20, the five-storey converted townhouse at 20 Grosvenor Street will provide a club-like atmosphere for well-heeled clients who feel more at home in London W1 than the glass-and-steel environs of its corporate headquarters in Canary Wharf in faraway docklands, writes the Financial Times. The townhouse - "five floors in which to enhance your conversations and deepen your business relationships," according to KPMG - boasts a restaurant, presentation suite, business lounge, meeting rooms and a bar with a terrace on the fourth floor. "We thought we'd create a West End space for people to meet, mingle and touch down," said Simon Collins, UK chairman of KPMG. "Non-execs who have lots of meetings can often find it pretty lonely if they don't have a base. So this is somewhere they can go, drop a bag, get something typed, call a cab, have a shower, a coffee and a sandwich, and meet other people." One of more than 50 private members' clubs in Mayfair, the area's luxury shops, Michelin-starred restaurants, hedge fund offices and sky-high property prices have proved a magnet for the super rich, so it follows that advisers should tweak their marketing - and location - accordingly.
