Home Loan Margin Calls

[Kubes.SG]

hi guys... i work for a newspaper and i would like to hear more about how the economy is making life difficult for expats, esp with respect to these margin calls... my email is lianyi@sph.com.sg... please send me a mail if you wish to talk

Ho:

OK, I will respond.    What a great idea for a story!!!  Rich Ang Mohs getting screwed by margin calls by Singapore-based banks - beautiful.  Certainly the sort of thing that heartlanders would love to laugh about over their morning coffee.  Of course this has happened to all Ang Mohs in Singapore  and we are all now bankrupt.

Be sure to include the storyline on Singaporean investors who have been hoodwinked into buying Aust property at 50% above market value, who are now also dealing with a 30% decline in the AUD.  That could mean their investment has more than halved in value.  Are you allowed to write articles about that sort of thing too?

[Kubes.SG]

Posted by: mr kubes, please lah!
must u turn everything into expats vs singaporeans or australians vs singaporeans or kr kubes vs singaporeans? we know whose side u are NOT on. singaporeans may make the same errors as expats or mr kubes or australians but they are invariably the stupidest, in your view. u should change your slogan to 'be respectful to everyone except singaporeans'.

What are you upset about?  This is an expat site for the Singapore expat community to discuss matters of common interest.  It is not for "journalists" to try find people to do their research for them, especially for stories that will increase local heart-landers' negative feelings and disdain for the foreign talents who actually drive this economy. 

I have been here long enough to know the tone and objective of these types of stories in the local press.  In the simplest terms their nation-building rationale is:  "we know times are tough for Singaporeans as the recession bites and many start to lose jobs, but don't feel so bad because our banks are making sure all the rich Ang Mohs are getting screwed too."

In this case I did not start this us vs them discussion.  The "journalists" did.

[mr kubes, please lah!]

i've only read the part of the journalist's message that's quoted here. which part of it exactly started the 'us vs them' theme? so when the local papers write anything negative about non-singaporeans, in singapore or else where, it's them vs us? i think you are really paranoid. to most singaporeans, expats are not the centre of their universe.

why do u think the journalist is necessarily getting someone else to do their research for them? journalists talk to people. it's part and parcel of their job. or do u have a better research method for journalists?

[Kubes.SG]

i've only read the part of the journalist's message that's quoted here. which part of it exactly started the 'us vs them' theme? so when the local papers write anything negative about non-singaporeans, in singapore or else where, it's them vs us? i think you are really paranoid. to most singaporeans, expats are not the centre of their universe.

why do u think the journalist is necessarily getting someone else to do their research for them? journalists talk to people. it's part and parcel of their job. or do u have a better research method for journalists?

You are making a big deal about this, not me.  What I did was suggest the "journalist" not frame the article about "how the economy is making life difficult for expats" (direct quote) but about all the people in Singapore (most of whom happen to be Singaporeans, not expats) who have got themselves into a financial black hole due to poorly thought-through overseas investments funded by heavily discounted SGD loans and other instruments.  You are the one who makes this an "us vs them" issue, along with the "journo's" original expat only focus.

Lets be really frank and honest here.  "Journalists" in Singapore rarely do meaningful research or set story/editorial direction independently in the same way that journalists do in free and open press countries.  Mostly the story direction and objective is provided to them by the owners.  They fill it out to meet the required word-count, usually with some quotes (with name, job, age) and then get it approved by the owners prior to publication.  Maybe now there is self-censorship, not really sure - can someone clarify please?  For instance, when has a SG journalist or the Press ever triggered the downfall of a leading public or private figure?

Also, one of the things that the Nation-Building press does do an extraordinarily lot of is dwell on the stories of crime, corruption, poverty, disaster, etc., from within the region, as a way of helping heart-landers see how fantastic their lives are versus the rest of the big bad dangerous world.  So don't you dare claim that I started (or participate in) this "us vs them" game.  If anything I am just providing more balanced messages, and you may not be used that kind of thing.

[mutlcurrency morg]

we've received a letter from a large Aussie bank, saying inter rate does not reflect cost of our loan so they will be increasing it. They will advise soon what the increase will be. Anybody else received such letters dated end of October?

[pigman]

My rate moves evey month seeminly in directions at odds with the rest of the market.  It went up by approx 0.2% this month when the rest of the world weemed to move down. Also with a Big Ozzie

[Route 66]

I did a JPY loan against a GBP property years ago and covered the short and medium term FX risk with derivatives. It was still way cheaper.

I understand the cash calls but the threat t lose your house I do not understand. I mean, if you pay 500k (any currency) for a property and it depreciates to 400k, they don't come knocking at the door for 100k if you are servicing the loan. For high loan to value mortgages, they usually force you to buy an insurance policy which you pay for but which they claim on.

Unless you have some seriously high LTV I would have thought they would not be overly concerned as long as you keep meeting payments. Foreclosing on your mortgage when you are not behind with payments seems a threat which they would not carry out as they could be the eventual losers.

[stella66]

We were very lucky that ANZ has been extremely tardy in processing our application as we were looking at this when AUD was 1.21 and it would have been an instant disaster for us. At that point the economists at ANZ were quite bullish about the AUD which shows how if the economists could not predict the slide what chance did the local punters have. Fortunately this has saved us thousands of dollars and they still haven't got back to us...same service really we got from them in Australia but at least this time it has worked in our favour. It really is buyer beware although now may be the time to look at a switch if not for the interest savings but to take advantage of the opportunity to wipe out capital with an increase in AUD...

[majestic]

We were very lucky that ANZ has been extremely tardy in processing our application as we were looking at this when AUD was 1.21

How funny - the exact same thing happened to us! The ANZ was so slow that we eventually just switched to Westpac (also for other reasons). It turned out well though - we switched at 1:1 instead of 1.2:1. Yes, interesting how just 2-3 months ago the ANZ was predicting the AUD to hit USD 1.04 by Christmas...

[Same here]

Same situation, different bank (Dragon!). They were too busy making margin calls, didn't process our loan, I was all shitty about it not going through at 1.15. Best thing a bank has ever done, thank you! Am looking at still doing the same, but think the AUD will continue to drop. Only so much the RBA can do to prop it up. Look for a further drop to similar levels as 4 weeks ago. Let's see what happens then (hopefully a loan approval!).

[ASod]

Westpac Not Averse To Using NZ Cheap Labour For The Donkey Work

But just to show that it is not averse to exploiting cheap New Zealand labour, Westpac announced, in September 2004, that it might return some more back office processing functions to New Zealand. "Westpac…is keen to take advantage of New Zealand’s low wages as part of a programme to reduce the $A1.6 billion in costs incurred each year in its business, technology and services divisions" (Press, 20/9/04; "Westpac plans to shift some processing functions to NZ", Roeland van den Bergh). And Westpac knows that it’s got an image problem. So, in September 2004, it became the first major corporation in New Zealand to issue a social and environmental report, which it insisted was not just a marketing exercise. Two cheers for public relations.

Mega profits, tax dodging, hidden fees, refusal to set up as a New Zealand bank, outsourcing of key functions to Australia, using New Zealand cheap labour for the donkey work – it’s a pretty impressive rap sheet, which (courtesy of the Commerce Commission) now includes some actual criminal charges. All the foreign banks are culpable but Westpac is definitely ahead of the pack. The two unusual things about 2004 have been that Inland Revenue, the Commerce Commission and the Reserve Bank have put down their cheerleaders’ pompoms long enough to actually start doing what the New Zealand taxpayer pays them to do, and that is to investigate, regulate, control and, if necessary, prosecute the banking transnationals that have been ripping us off and robbing us blind for decades. They are responsible for the biggest "inside job" in the history of New Zealand bank robbery.

Disclosure statement. I mentioned the CAFCA/ABC Organiser Account, which exists to pay me. It is ironic that this account is held with Westpac. Rest assured that we are a captive customer, dating back to when it was held by the former TrustBank (which was taken over by Westpac). For purely pragmatic reasons – namely the hassles involved in transferring 40+ regular pledgers to another bank – we have stayed put. But most of the money in the account has been transferred to a term deposit with Kiwibank. Every other committee with which I am involved, with Westpac accounts, has closed them and transferred to Kiwibank. MH.

[ANZrSlow]

Exactly same thing happened to me re tardy loan application at ANZ. Saved me A$350k!!!!!