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Speaker 1: ASB has agreed to pay more than one hundred and

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Speaker 1: thirty five million dollars to settle a class action lawsuit. Now,

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Speaker 1: this is the legal action representing about one hundred and

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Speaker 1: seventy thousand kiwis which has been taken against ASB and

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Speaker 1: A and Z who've been accused of breaching responsible lending rules.

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Speaker 1: Scott Russell is the lawyer representing bank customers in the

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Speaker 1: class action and is with us. Hey, Scott, why do

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Speaker 1: you think ASB has agreed to settle?

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Speaker 2: Oh? Look, it's a commercial resolution that includes over four

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Speaker 2: years of litigation and really provides certainty for both parties.

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Speaker 1: How many customers of ASB have you got here?

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Speaker 2: Well, the action is an opt out action, which is,

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Speaker 2: as you probably know, a type of lawsuit where all

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Speaker 2: individuals who meet the criteria automatically included as part of

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Speaker 2: the class. So it's actually going to be a matter

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Speaker 2: for courts to determine and approve in the coming weeks

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Speaker 2: what the number is.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So you can't look at one thirty five mill

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Speaker 1: and then say, divided by x number customers, they will

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Speaker 1: get so much. We don't know any of that.

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Speaker 2: I can't that at that stage. This stage know that

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Speaker 2: it'll be determined by the court in the coming weeks.

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Speaker 1: Why is A and Z not doing the same.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's a good question and that's something we'll certainly

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Speaker 2: be reaching out and asking A and Z. But we

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Speaker 2: remain fully committed to our claim against A and Z,

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Speaker 2: continue to fight that. But A Z customers deserve a

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Speaker 2: positive outcome here similar to that which has been achieved

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Speaker 2: for ASB Scott.

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Speaker 1: The Government cannot surely continue with its law change, can

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Speaker 1: it now that ASB has settled.

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Speaker 2: Well. The Senate Committee is due to report back to

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Speaker 2: Parliament on the twentieth of October, and am Z is

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Speaker 2: now the only known lender facing active litigation that would

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Speaker 2: benefit from this proposed respective law change. So it would

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Speaker 2: be very unclear why the government would intervene, reach back

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Speaker 2: and change the law but retect one large Australian owned bank.

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Speaker 1: I mean, particularly when you think that ASB has said, yep,

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Speaker 1: we have to sett all this. To settle this, A

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Speaker 1: and Z is there. So if the bank, sorry, if

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Speaker 1: the government was to change the law, they would be

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Speaker 1: looking at and still still making the argument that A

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Speaker 1: and Z alone has to be protected. That's essentially the

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Speaker 1: nut of it isn't it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. I mean the sentiment is still subject

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Speaker 2: to ort approval and it's made with no missions of

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Speaker 2: liability on the part of ASB. But yeah, subject to that.

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Speaker 2: You're correct, all.

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Speaker 1: Right, Scott, Thanks very much. Scott Russell, lawyer representing bank

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Speaker 1: customers in the class action. None of it or nub

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Speaker 1: of it your choice now. ASB says it has made

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Speaker 1: no admission of liability or wrongdoing. Its chief executive says

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Speaker 1: the settlement provides certainty for the bank and its customers.

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Speaker 1: A and Z has sent us a statement they say

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Speaker 1: asb's decision to settle as a commercial decision for them.

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Speaker 1: A and Z New Zealand will continue to defend its case.

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Speaker 1: Our position hasn't changed. The potential consequences under the current

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Speaker 1: law are disproportionate, not aligned with any actual harm cause

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Speaker 1: and the risk posed by the wording of the current

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Speaker 1: legislation has been widely discussed from a political perspective. Fascinated

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Speaker 1: and how Scott Simpson is going to defend his position

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Speaker 1: in changing the law retrospectively, which is quite a wild

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Speaker 1: thing to do. It didn't get done very often. How

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Speaker 1: he can persist in doing that? For one Australian Bank

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Speaker 1: six eleven. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, Listen

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