West Belfast MLAs meet with heads of four main banks
Published: 14 January, 2009
West Belfast Sinn Fein MLA's Fra McCann & Jennifer McCann have met with the leaders of the four main banks in their role as members of the Committee for Finance and Personnel.
Speaking after the meeting Ms McCann said;
''We welcome the fact that this meeting has eventually taken place as the Committee had requested to meet with bank officials several months ago.
''We stressed the importance on all the local banks to pass on the 1.5% base rate cut in full to customers. We also challenged the bank officials on mortgages, home repossessions, costs of loans and overdrafts, and fees and charges.
''It is clear that customers are picking up the increases in costs due to the financial risks banks have taken. Interest rates were cut so that banks could pass the cuts onto customers and steady the economy. That still isn't happening to the degree it should be.
''Banks and financial institutions have received huge amounts of money from the public purse and, given their role in creating the current economic crisis, they need to be taking measures to secure businesses and protect people from unemployment. Businesses, particularly Small and medium enterprises, need to have a steady cash flow and access to credit in order to avoid closing and creating more unemployment.
Ms McCann added;
"High deposits on mortgages penalise first time buyers, and homeowners who get into difficulty through repayments aren't protected by the Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme if their bank hasn't signed up to participate in the scheme.
''There has been a sharp increase in home repossessions over the past year and banks and other mortgage lenders aren't doing enough to stop them."
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