Westpac Profiteering
Nigel Gray made this Official Information request to Serious Fraud Office
The request was successful.
From: Nigel Gray
Dear Serious Fraud Office,
I believe there are laws existing in New Zealand regarding "profiteering". This is of course the making of excessive or unfair profits. Westpac Bank has just announced $4 billion profit in the last 6 months, which is excessive profit by any definition of the word. While only part of this is from New Zealand earnings, it is still a company operating in New Zealand. Can you please clarify for me what laws exist regarding profiteering and whether you have any investigation planned regarding the profiteering that Westpac is evidently conducting in New Zealand at this time.
Yours faithfully,
Nigel Gray
From: Nigel Gray
Dear Serious Fraud Office,
On May 9th I sent a letter to you regarding Westpac profiteering. Apparently there has been no response to my letter despite the requirement (BY LAW) that this was to be replied to by 7th June 2017. It seems to me that businesses should be charging fair prices in relation to their services, just as it seems clear that Westpac are charging excessively and making extreme profits not at all in relation or equivalence to the services they offer.
This is easy to observe when trying to telephone Westpac or visit a branch and having to wait in a queue; evidently they do not have sufficient staff to provide the services they are offering, but instead are charging exorbitant amounts and then pocketing it as profit whilst not actually providing a service in relation to the charges set. The original letter is included below.
" From: Nigel Gray
"May 09, 2017
Dear Serious Fraud Office,
I believe there are laws existing in New Zealand regarding "profiteering". This is of course the making of excessive or unfair profits. Westpac Bank has just announced $4 billion profit in the last 6 months, which is excessive profit by any definition of the word. While only part of this is from New Zealand earnings, it is still a company operating in New Zealand. Can you please clarify for me what laws exist regarding profiteering and whether you have any investigation planned regarding the profiteering that Westpac is evidently conducting in New Zealand at this time.
Yours faithfully,
Nigel Gray "
Yours faithfully,
Nigel Gray
From: SERIOUS FRAUD OFFICE
Serious Fraud Office
Dear Mr Gray
Thank you for your email.
Please be advised that your request, sent on 9 May 2017, was not received by this office due to the email being triaged as 'spam' by the automated system run through our data service suppliers.
We apologise that as a result, you have not received a timely response. We are currently reviewing your request with urgency and will send our response as soon as possible.
Kind regards,
Sarah O'Brien
Evaluating Lawyer
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From: SERIOUS FRAUD OFFICE
Serious Fraud Office
Dear Mr Gray
Please find attached our response to your request for information.
Kind regards,
Serious Fraud Office
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