Mortgage mess action seeks funding

Ian Rogers
The Treasury Building, Parkes, Canberra
The Commonwealth of Australia will be named as the defendant in a proposed class action centred on the consequences of the policies of financial regulators that have encouraged the ramp up in household debt over more than a decade.

Roger Brown, a retired Lloyd's of London insurance broker and insurance law consultant based in London, is the driving force behind a class action in which the identified group of class members will number some 300,000 mortgage loan holders.

Mooted for a couple of years, Brown told Banking Day yesterday that he held detailed discussions in recent days with a senior partner in a leading plaintiff law firm.

"He has considered a lot of material on this matter and is about to furnish me with his summary of the cause of action, so that I can approach my funding partners to take the matter to the next stage of senior counsel opinion," Brown said.

One other unrelated class action, with Bankwest and Commonwealth Bank as defendant, is making very slow progress since being filed more than three years ago.