Nedbank in dock over information access law
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEDBANK has become the first of SA's big banks to face a high court challenge under the Promotion of Access to Information Act for refusing to provide reasons for declining a home loan application.
According to Deloitte & Touche legal partner Wim Mostert there has not yet been a single judgment where an individual has successfully used the act to get information from a bank or financial institution.
The Open Democracy Advice Centre said yesterday that the appeal against Nedbank's decision was served on the bank on June 20 and Nedbank's response was expected on July 11.
"An SANDF officer has taken on appeal to the Johannesburg High Court the bank's refusal to grant him access to records about his home loan.
Nedbank has argued that giving the officer his personal information would be likely to cause harm to the commercial or financial interests of Nedbank," the centre said in a statement.
Attorney for the officer, Teboho Makhalemele said they looked forward to hearing how their client's request to access information about his home loan could cause harm to the commercial or financial interests of Nedbank.
Centre manager Alison Tilley said: " It is in the public interest to promote the disclosure by financial institutions of information regarding the provision of home loans."
She said this promoted fair lending practices on the part of lending institutions and ensured confidence on the part of the public that decisions were fair.
Mostert said there was a marked increase in the number of applications being brought against banks under the act.
"It seems the man in the street is becoming aware of this tool and is using it," he said.
Jul 01 2003 08:41:32:000AM Wyndham Hartley and Rob Rose Business Day 1st Edition
Tuesday
01 July 2003
Profile Group (Pty) Ltd. has taken care in preparing all information on this website, but does not accept any liability for errors or out-of-date information.
