Connie, a successful property developer, needed finance for a new property development in Dunsborough situated in the Southwest of Australia. She approached her bank and was told by the branch manager of the bank that a loan could be arranged in a foreign currency at a low rate of interest if she was interested. 

At a later meeting, another bank officer spoke about the advantages of such a loan in terms of it being good business for Connie to borrow offshore: it was low in risk, and it wasn't worth hedging such a loan against the Australian dollar, which was strong at that time. As a result of these conversations, Connie borrowed the equivalent of A$12 million in US dollars. At the time of the loan, the exchange rate for the Australian dollar against the US dollar was A$1.14. 

Three years later, the value of the Australian dollar had fallen to A$0.68 to the US dollar, significantly increasing Connie's debt to the bank. Has Connie any recourse against the bank under the ACL?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Connie may have recourse against the bank under the Australian Consumer Law ACL if certain condition... View the full answer