ASB Declines Settlement Proposal, Class Action Case To Continue
The proposal was announced to media the day before the Select Committee hearings on the CCCFA Amendment Bill. In ASB's view this is an obvious attempt to influence and distract from this process by attempting to reassure Government about the potential risk to New Zealand banks under this piece of law.
ASB does not understand the basis for the figures presented in the proposal or consider that they operate as an effective cap on the size of the plaintiffs' claim in the proceeding, including as the proposal is said to expire on 8 August 2025.
The settlement offer received provides no certainty to ASB or other banks which may become subject to similar class actions, or to the sector as a whole.
ASB Bank
Helping you get one step ahead.
In 1847, ASB opened as the Auckland Savings Bank with the pledge: 'to serve the community; to grow and to help Kiwis grow'. And that is very much what ASB is about today.
ASB is a leading provider of integrated financial services in New Zealand including retail, business and rural banking, funds management and insurance.
ASB strives to consistently provide its customers with outstanding service and innovative financial solutions. They're dedicated to providing simple financial products that allow their customers to bank with them how and when they want.
We all have our own ways to measure progress, and our own stories about the things that matter to us. Whatever way you choose to measure progress, and whatever your goals, ASB is there to help you get one step ahead.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
23 minutes ago
- NZ Herald
Hardship forces Kiwis to withdraw $470 million from KiwiSaver in 12 months
'That trend really started a couple of years ago, so we've been seeing that since early 2023. And that really coincides with that period of economic hardship. 'Initially it was about cost of living, when inflation rose very sharply… then of course the recession - when we've seen quite a big set of job losses and that wider hardship. '[Hardships] used to be under about 2000 a month and we've been closer to 4500 a month in the last little while, so [that] gives you a sense of just how much hardship there is.' Eaqub said redundancies were the biggest driver of hardship in the past year. 'There's a bunch of reasons, but really it's about that big increase in job losses over the course of the last couple of years. 'While the overall rate of inflation has slowed, the cost of living is still really high. So, what we've seen is the rate of growth… costs are not increasing as fast as before but they're still very expensive. Particularly for things like food. 'Food prices are up around 4.5% [in the last year], people's incomes are not rising that fast.' Eaqub called it a 'double whammy'. 'When the economic conditions are weak, it tends to affect people in more than one way. 'It's around 0.3% of all KiwiSaver members. So, it's gone up a lot since the pre-Covid years when it was 0.2%. 'It's a small number of people who are experiencing a lot of hardship.' He said the average amount withdrawn is about $9000. '[People] are taking out what they can to cover their outstanding debts and making sure they've got money left over,' Eaqub said. Eaqub said this can have implications on retirement savings later in life. 'I guess it's choosing between financial hardship today versus financial hardship potentially later. And that's the trade-off that you have to make. 'If you're in hardship today, then it is no good saying that in 20 or 30 years time I'm going to have a better retirement if you're living in poverty today. 'Quite often we're talking about people who have relatively small balances.' Those contributing to KiwiSaver were also better insulated for when hardship hits. 'Quite often the people who don't [contribute] are on low incomes. And for them they are missing out on the employee contributions, the Government contribution. 'Those people who have been contributing to KiwiSaver are better off in the sense that, at least they have these pre-cautionary savings and they've saved a lot more income they might have otherwise had. 'So, they may not have more money in retirement but they will at least have more money in hardship today.' Cameron Smith is an Auckland-based business reporter. He joined the Herald in 2015 and has covered business and sports. He reports on topics such as retail, small business, the workplace and macroeconomics.
NZ Herald
23 minutes ago
- NZ Herald
FamilyBoost: Just 153 families getting maximum $75 weekly childcare tax credit
The more a family spends on childcare, the higher the rebate. Labour released a scathing statement, saying the number of families who received the maximum credit was too low and it indicated the Government's flagship cost of living programme was 'in tatters.' 'A year in, only 153 people have received the [maximum] FamilyBoost entitlement for the entire year. National has broken its promises and is making life harder for New Zealanders. 'National is completely out of touch with what our communities need.' Finance Minister Nicola Willis flatly rejected the accusation National had broken a promise, saying they had delivered on 'every promise that we made in relation to FamilyBoost'. 'We were very clear prior to the election that how much you would get under FamilyBoost depended on how much you spent on ECE fees and what your income was. 'Everyone who has applied for a FamilyBoost rebate under the scheme has received their full rebate, as it was advertised to them, prior to the election.' She said Labour had 'made clear it would remove the FamilyBoost payment'. Willis said more than 60,000 families had claimed FamilyBoost, and Labour's plan would rob them of much needed cost of living relief. Recently, Willis announced the Government had tweaked the eligibility settings meaning 'thousands' more people would be able to make a claim. The maximum rebate has increased from 25% to 40% of a family's weekly childcare costs and the income cap has been raised from $180,000 to $230,000. Willis said about 16,000 more families are expected to enter the scheme as a result of these changes. 'Those numbers are annual and we will monitor uptake each quarter to see whether the expected uplift is occurring. 'I am confident that these more generous provisions will encourage more families to apply for FamilyBoost and will be welcomed by the families already benefiting from the scheme who can look forward to more generous rebates in future.' Families are required to keep copies of their early childcare invoices to submit for a payment, which has raised questions about how many eligible families would end up receiving the payment. When launching the policy in March 2024, the Government explained it had to weigh up waiting years so a direct childcare tax credit could be implemented or get going with payments that year but make parents wear the 'administrative burden'. Willis says IRD is looking into whether a direct refund model can be established. This could include automating payments with ECE providers. Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
NZ Herald
23 minutes ago
- NZ Herald
Neil Quigley denies conflict of interest as Reserve Bank chairman amid Waikato medical school deal
The remaining funding would be provided by the university and through donations. Construction was set to begin this year and would add 120 medical training places annually from 2028. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announces the new medical school funding. Photo / Mark Mitchell National had campaigned in 2023 on a new medical school at the university but the promise was diluted through coalition negotiations with Act, which demanded a thorough cost/benefit analysis before committing funding. Established medical schools claimed funding more placements would be more cost-effective. Quigley had been heavily involved in the policy development and once described the school as being a 'present' to a National-led Government in a possible second term. Labour's health spokeswoman Dr Ayesha Verrall said questions should be asked if the deal was a 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' arrangement between Quigley and the Government, given Quigley's role with the Reserve Bank. 'That does draw the independence of the Reserve Bank decisions into question,' she said. 'Releasing the costings for the medical school and how it stacks up against alternative options is important.' Former Reserve Bank manager Michael Reddell said he wasn't certain a direct conflict existed but questioned whether it explained Quigley's presence on the board. 'It's just a loose connection that no one understands why he's still in the role, why he was reappointed last year.' Neil Quigley leads the University of Waikato. Photo / George Novak Luxon, in his post-Cabinet press conference, said he expected any conflicts to be well-managed and felt comfortable with the arrangement. Quigley's role as chairman was separate to the Monetary Policy Committee, which sets the Official Cash Rate. Speaking to the Herald, Quigley dismissed the suggestion there was a conflict of interest. 'It's been news to me that people imagined there was a conflict between my role at the Reserve Bank and the university.' He described the bank as an 'evidence-based institution' and noted he was 'only one of nine members of the board'. Donations for new school worth 10s of millions Philanthropic donations had been central to the Government agreeing to co-fund the new medical school, Health Minister Simeon Brown saying donations and university funds would cover the remaining $150m. The donations had been pledged amid the Government's deliberations with some donors putting pen to paper to commit their contributions. Quigley wouldn't name any donors, citing privacy, but acknowledged some contributions were worth tens of millions of dollars. 'At the moment, they've done it on a private basis just to support me and we've given the Government an indication of who those people are and what sorts of commitments they've made.' He said he wasn't aware of any links donors had with the National Party, saying many sought to help address the country's shortage of medical professionals. 'There's a lot of philanthropically-minded people out there and some of them have just come to me and said, 'We want to support this project', it's not as if I've had to go find them.' Quigley suspected half of the $150m would be satisfied through donations with the rest to be covered by the university. 'At the moment, we're well on the way to the 50% of donations just with a relatively small number of large trusts and very wealthy individuals so we don't see that as particularly challenging.' Acknowledging comments from Finance Minister Nicola Willis that any extra costs wouldn't be covered by the Government, Quigley said the university was able to borrow any additional funds required. Early cost estimates for the new school had been much more expensive at about $380m. Quigley, who described that estimate as 'entirely hypothetical', said costs had been saved through plans to utilise existing health infrastructure like medical centres and GP clinics which weren't at capacity. Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald's Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.
