Australia’s business regulator stated this week that German automaker BMW has to pay A$ 77 million ($57 million) to compensate consumers who got loans they could not pay for, in what is Australia’s largest ever consumer credit remediation program.
The payments will compensate a minimum of 15,000 clients who might have suffered challenge between January 2011 and August 2016 due to loans received from local funding unit BMW Australia Finance Limited, the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) stated on its website.
The lion’s share of the amount, at A$ 50 million, will approach the write-off of loans. Smaller amounts will be for settlement, rate of interest decrease on existing loans and initiatives to enhance customers’ monetary literacy.
“BMW Finance had a sales-driven culture that failed to adhere to the requirements of the credit laws and led to bad results for many consumers,” ASIC Deputy Chairman Peter Kell stated.
BMW confirmed its contract with ASIC and informed its Australian financing unit had been working with the regulator to guarantee that its processes complied with regional laws.
