Battell, Commerce Commission director, named Banking Ombudsman

Friday 1st May 2009

Deborah Battell was named Banking Ombudsman, replacing Liz Brown, who is retiring after 14 years.

Battell is currently Director of Competition for the Commerce Commission, and was previously the regulator’s Director of Fair Trading. She previous worked for KMPG.

In her February newsletter, Brown said there had been a “dramatic rise” in complaints to her office in the second half of 2008, with a record number in January. As at February, the office had 240 complaints under investigation, up from 91 at the end of January 2008.

Complaints to the Banking Ombudsman started to increase in March last year after the freezing of two funds provided by ING New Zealand Ltd. In the final months of 2008, she received an increase in complaints about break-fees for fixed rate loans.

Battell will take up the role on July 21.

Businesswire.co.nz

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