Macquarie Bank has denied abandoning margin lending clients embroiled in the collapse of Storm Financial (Storm).
“We are directing those clients requiring financial advice to the Financial Planning Association,” a Macquarie spokesperson told InvestorDaily.
“Due to the recent sale of the majority of our margin loans portfolio, we are exiting the margin lending market and are actively working with Storm clients to review their options to close out or refinance their loans.”
Macquarie sold its $1.5 billion margin lending portfolio to Bendigo and Adelaide Bank for $52 million earlier this month.
However, speculation has mounted that Storm clients who took up a margin loan with Macquarie will now be left to fend for themselves.
Macquarie has refuted the claims.
“We have a dedicated team servicing the Storm clients who have margin loan facilities with us. We ask that clients contact us directly if they would like to discuss their margin loan options,” the spokesperson said.
ASIC commenced an investigation into Storm on 12 December 2008 in connection with margin loans and related advice to Storm’s clients.
The corporate watchdog’s investigation found about 3000 of Storm’s clients had entered into a margin loan for market-linked investments.
ASIC found over 450 clients owed their margin lender more than the value of their portfolios, equating to about $30 million.
It is not known how many of these clients held a margin loan with Macquarie.
Storm closed its doors on 15 January 2009 after being placed in voluntary administration on 12 January 2009.
