So, is the HEM doomed or not?

Advertisement

Yesterday’s Federal Court decision to stomp on ASIC’s WBC settlement has all tongues wagging. Martin North sees as bullish:

The use of HEM may well be back in play, following the latest from the Westpac ASIC case. Given that at some banks HEM is still being used for around half of applications, and the Royal Commission commented specifically in the use of HEM, perhaps the law needs to be changed.

The core of the argument is whether the loans were unsuitable, and that it seems would depend of the ultimate progress of the loan subsequently. IN other words, it cannot be proved to be unsuitable until it falls over. APRA would need to prove the loan was unsuitable!

The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers

$1 for your first month, then:
Cancel at any time through our billing provider, Stripe
About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.