Excessive bank charges

A recent UK High Court ruling has finally paved the way for banks to be brought to heel regarding the excessive and unfair charges they have habitually inflicted upon their customers, which until recently they did with impunity and without fear of being disciplined for their transgressions in this regard. For the judge ruled in favour of the banks' customers by concurring with the action brought against them to declare that indeed these charges are excessive and unfair.

These tariffs, fees and charges I have long maintained are exorbitant and unilaterally unjust (forwarding my arguments and stating my serious misgivings in this aspect on many occasions) not only in the UK but right here in Malta, where I submit these exact same charges could be levied against Maltese registerd banks.

Interestingly enough, the case against the banks was brought before the courts courtesy of The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) who are one of the watchdog entities, thus tasked with protecting the general public against such fleecing practices which unfortunately are all too frequent by these cartels.

This dedication to duty however, is apparently not shared by the corresponding watchdogs in Malta (lapdogs would be a more apt description), who display and cultivate a more relaxed approach and constantly appear supine and mute, dare I say compliant and complicit to all the banks' modus operandi with regard to their Affluenza Virus, along with their rapacious pursuit of being infected by such.

I can hardly recall a serious challenge to any bank in Malta by our purported protectors and why is this I ask? Is it because the banks are regarded as Prelates of Prudence and Probity and therefore are allowed to function with apparent immunity from robust, rigorous or stringent monitoring and scrutiny, or does a more insidious and dubious apparent justification exist for this palpable failure to challenge or confront these unaccountable elites? I put it to all those purported guardians and trustees so tasked with protecting the people's rights and ensuring fair practice to appear less under-nourished and cultivate a more authoritarian demeanour by urgently reviewing all the tariffs, fees and charges of the banks with immediate effect, as I would argue, yet again, that these warrant a critical examination and ultimately an overhaul.

Yet another concern, which I have continually expressed without an adequate or appropriate addressing, is with regard to what protection package is in place to afford compensation to bank customers in the event of a bank's loss of liquidity, i.e. going bust and out of business? How is this compensation package promulgated to customers(for any survey will readily reveal the extent of the level of customers' unacquaintance with the existence of such a compensation scheme? How much of a depositor's funds are protected exactly? When were these compensation amounts last subject to an increase - if ever - since their inception?

For it is my submission this noble concept of a protection package is not readily disseminated by Maltese registered banks because of the simple fact that these amounts available to customers here are vastly inferior to the amounts one could expect from banks in other EU countries(those banks registered in Malta from other European countries do advise in their terms and conditions of this compensation scheme, moreover they advise of the amounts available to their clients which are inexplicably, unaccountably and considerably superior to Maltese banks. Furthermore, the paltry and derisory amounts offered as protection in Malta have remained rigid and static since their inception many years ago.

I call upon all those organisations empowered to protect us and to act on our behalf (supposedly) to do just that - act! For currently we are afforded next to nothing in this regard, or none manifestly evident in any event. I strongly urge the MFSA and the Maltese equivalent of the OFT, among others, to demonstrate a more accountable, transparent and responsible affinity towards the people they are purported to protect and to exhibit such conduct in a much more forthright and desirable manner, as currently, I daresay, there is a great deficiency in these vital and pivotal key elements of protection, accompanied by a far too lenient, light-touch regulating of financial institutions.