Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks, part of National Australia Bank are thought to have earned £300 Million from allegedly misselling 6 billion in loans, up to 24,000 UK job losses are expected according to a campaign group. 35 MP's are supporting a motion to have all such loans reviewed.
Liverpool, Merseyside -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/30/2013 --http://www.nabcustomersupportgroup.org the Campaign group for Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank business customers, with 87 members alleges that members were mis sold fixed rate loans which have crippled their businesses leading to 425 job losses.
Group campaign coordinator John Glare says that their group loan is over £106 Million compared with the bank's loan total of £6.2 billion and that members have suffered 425 job losses which equates to over 24,000 over the bank’s portfolio.
Glare continues, ‘the loans are subject to huge breakage penalties (up to 40%) which prevent customers from rebanking or selling their properties’.
National Australia Bank has decided to exit the UK and break up and dispose of their commercial portfolio of 4,000 SMEs with loans totalling £6.2 billion. The portfolio has been "shrunk" to £4 billion over 18 months through foreclosures and forced sales and continues to shrink as properties are seized and sold.
Glare says in one interview with Yorkshire Bank a member was told that the bank would:
‘Use any means at their disposal as leverage to increase margins. Lending money at the moment is simply unaffordable. The market conditions are the way they are and this is where the market is. If you don't like it you can always go somewhere else’.
National Australia Bank used Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks to force the businesses, many in Scotland, into long term fixed rate loans containing unregulated embedded swaps from which the bank received instant commissions in excess of 5% of the loan. This created a "toxic" portfolio which is now being broken up and liquidated. The businesses are being run efficiently by responsible business people, but are being destroyed by the loans.
During a Treasury meeting in October, John Thurso (Lib Dem, Caithness & Easter Ross) requested copies of letters that Martin Wheatley of the Financial Conduct Authority sent to Greg Clark of HM Treasury warning of the mis selling and indicating that there may have been as many as 60,000 similar loans issued since 2001. After 63 days, Martin Wheatley supplied copies of the letters after receiving a final demand from Andrew Tyrie, the chair of the Treasury Select Committee, in which it was stated that copies of his letter and that of his reply would be made available to the public.
Glare has asked MP’s to support his campaign by signing EDM 874 and help to control the banks' selling of these dangerous products which have crippled businesses and precipitated job losses.
Consumers who have taken out a fixed rate loan from any UK bank after 2001 can contact their local MP to ask them to sign EDM 874