Update on inquiry into breach of internal rules when improving mortgage advice
- Detecting Financial Crime
Jarco de Swart
Sr Press Officer Corporate Affairs, Finance, Legal and Sustainability
Today ABN AMRO announced that during the investigation into a breach of internal rules that took place when improving mortgage advice it was established that 90 employees had copied clients’ signatures. A few dozen employees are yet to be questioned.
The bank has decided that possible measures to be taken under employment law regarding the employees involved will be determined on a case-by-case basis. The issue will also be discussed with the disciplinary court for banks (Stichting Tuchtrecht Banken).
Frans Woelders, Managing Director of ABN AMRO Retail Banking, says: ‘I understand that it can be difficult for an advisor to go back to the client if the advice has changed and it has no impact on the client. Clients themselves have often asked what the point is of signing the documents again. And perhaps we have taken the process too far in terms of getting back to the client. But whatever the reasons were for doing this, they were all wrong. I would also like to emphasise that more than 800 mortgage advisors did not make this choice.’
Woelders: ‘I deeply regret that this was allowed to happen and that we have harmed our clients’ trust. At this point there is no reason to believe that these clients have suffered financial damage. Should it turn out that they have been adversely affected, we will, of course, remedy the situation.’