Lorraine Higgins (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am calling for a debate on our financial regulations in the light of an issue brought to my attention by a constituent recently. A lady contacted me about the fact that her mortgage with Bank of Scotland had been sold to a private equity firm, Lone Star. The concerns she expressed were twofold. One relates to the fact that the transfer was made in breach of her mortgage agreement with the bank, which clearly provides that "information will only be disclosed to a bank or financial institution on the understanding that it intends to participate in funding the mortgage". While I understand Lone Star subsequently acquired a banking licence through buying out Start Mortgages Limited, it is not established as a bank or financial institution as per the requirements to be mdet under her mortgage agreement. In exacerbating the problem Bank of Scotland gave no substantial information to its customers on the future role of Lone Star in dealing with their mortgages and has not told them about the possible consequences of its actions, which is contrary to the Central Bank of Ireland's code of practice on the transfer of mortgages. The code provides that a loan secured by a mortgage on a residential property may not be transferred without the written consent of the borrower. I am clear that my constituent did not give her consent. Furthermore, she was very clear that she had not been informed when Bank of Scotland rebranded first as Halifax and subsequently as Certus when it became the public face of the bank in Ireland. Presuming that the loans were sold at a discount, as I would expect when private equity companies are involved, this begs the question as to why it did not give its customers the opportunity to buy out their mortgages at a discount in the first place. I have written to the CEO of Bank of Scotland, the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland and also the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform about what has happened in this instance. I am also looking for the Minister for Finance to come to the House for a debate on the issue of financial regulation in Ireland as it may apply to the Gordon Gekkos of the private equity world.