Ulster 05 Oct 2017 10am Ulster Bank Finance Committee Hearing - Live Thread

Senator Conway Walsh (Sinn Féin ) -[BB: Why does no FG TD attend. Their Senators do occaionally]

Have you identified who is responsible within your bank for removing people from their trackers

GM: The board and senior executives
The product was popular between 2001 2007
As rates increased, many chose to move to fixed rates. ...

CW : Was there a committee in the bank who said what to do? Was there any dissenting voice within the bank?
I have not seen any evidence that peple weere denied their legal entitlement?

What happened is that we did not make it fully clear to the customers?
 
Let off the hook with well into 2018. The one question that is for me an affected customer key.
 
Sales to vulture funds:

We did two sales - 2015 and 2016

Fewer than 900 with family homes
95% > 2 years
80%> 3 years
They were deep in the legal process which is why they were sold.

We did not sell the mortgages of any customers who were engaged with us.
 
GRG
Project Sapphire - Undertaken within the UK
New complaints process. Automatic refund of any fees, could be described as complex fees,
Considerable amount of progress.
19 customers who would be entitled to a refund of complex fee. 4 have already been returned the amount that they were due. A further 5 are in the process of returning the identification documentation in order to process the refunds.
48 complaints received since they went out on the website seeking anybody to make a complaint.Of those 4 have been adjudicated already, another 13 by the end of October. Overseen by independent three party.
Will run into the first quarter of next year.
How many companies put into GRG had receivers appointed? Approx 100, relatively low numbers. Customers were granted very significant levels of forbearance to assist them to get to viability.
 
What is ULB's methodology for redress? How are ULB approaching this? Who gets it first? Oldest first? Alphabetically?
 
Query from a Senator on the appeals mechanism on the tracker examination.
This is set out by the Central Bank. Disappointing they are not familiar with this..

They don't have the split between primary homes & buy to let mortgages today. Will provide this to the committee at a later date.
 
Kieran O'Donnell

Wants Ulster Bank to relax the 10% deposit requirement for FTBs.

Could you see merit where someone has a savings capacity over two years - renting at €1,200 - and saving €300 a month - with Ulster Bank - extend the limit?

GM: Every decision is made on its merits
What you propose would be outside our policy.

We can't go outside the CB's exceptions. It's not our policy, it's the CB's rule.

CB is responsive to feedback.

Loans sold by UB €13.7 bn ? How much in the Republic?

UB: 80% . c.€12 billion

Most was commercial

Tiny proportion residential - 900 @€250k probably - €200 million.


 
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The idea that ULB supported customers and provided forbearance is nonsense. I can demonstrate this.
 
Senator Gerry Horkan
What has been the size of the less than 40 customers remediated to date. Size of awards.
UB
Compensation levels *obfuscation* Time value of money, percentage compensation, redress.

GH
It doesn't take into account the rise in the value of property. Customers if they had been remediated 5 years ago they could have taken the money and used it to improve their property.

UB
No, it's not a figure that we come to.

GH
Where is the upper end and lower end of the issue here.

UB
I don't have the individual levels of compensation here with me here today.

GH
How much are the likely figures people are getting.

UB
I do have them but I don't have them here today.
 
justo said:
The idea that ULB supported customers and provided forbearance is nonsense.
Click to expand...

Many people have been supported and restructured. BoI and AIB restructured 90% of accounts for people who engaged with them. I have no reason to believe that UB was any different.

Brendan
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Many people have been supported and restructured. BoI and AIB restructured 90% of accounts for people who engaged with them. I have no reason to believe that UB was any different.

Brendan
Click to expand...
The impression ULB are giving here is that the customer was always supported and given every opportunity to get back on track with their accounts. This is blatantly untrue!!
 
I have access to a case where the customer was not in arrears, was in fact repaying in excess of their monthly amount due, and had their account sold to a 'vulture' fund, without any notice...
 
Does anybody know how many First Active potentially should be on Tracker. It appears none have been reviewed
 
Fighting back the emotions here listening to John McGuinness talk about the Tracker mortgage impact on a family.

John McGuinness
The tracker helpline is a farce. *details exactly why*
'It's like as if you've just established this because the Central Bank says so but the level of information is making matters worse.'

Customers have taken to employing financial consultants or legal represenation. In spite of that, your bank has not responded. You send out the same letters again and again. You don't answer any of their questions.

Doesn't that stand in stark contrast to how your bank says they have dealt with the GRG issue?

GM
It's clear there is a lack of transparency and clarity. It's clear to me that we have an awful lot of work to do.

John McGuinness
You know this. This is not new. You are trotting out the same response. What will you do to prioritise these customers if they get in touch with you?
IF YOU'RE SO FOND OF YOUR CUSTOMERS YOU'RE TREATING THEM VERY BADLY.
 
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John McGuinness
Will you give priority to those families? With children if they come to you.
Gerry Mallon
I hesitate to give priority to families just because they write first. *totally noncommittal*
John McGuinness
When your bank suffered you took immediate aggressive action against the SME sector in this country. But when a family suffers you can't even give the answers.
Mr Mallon you shouldn't have come in here today giving us another Groundhog event with all of this corresspondence piling in on top of us. When customers contact the bank the person at the other end of the phone line can't even answer the questions.
 
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