old summary explanation, page-24

Towie,
The "Westpac debacle" - are you are refering to the foreign currency loans to the farmers?

If you are, those were "far more simple" cases of M&D and not really "comparable" with this ANZ/Opes and ANZ/Prime debacles per se.

In these Opes cases, they are much more complex and involved many untested/unchartered areas of law to be tested in court.

In addition, I believe (IMHO) the farmers had more "political clout" than the many "mums & dads" investors caught up in Opes.

I do not believe (IMHO) there are any substantial ethical differences between the Big 4s. They all shaft and "legally rob" their clients with fees, charges, hiked interest rates, eceteras at every opportunity. Sad as it is, they are a necessary evil and at least they have not taken themselves to the precarious situation like the overseas banks on the subprime poison where customer deposits are at risks.

Anyway, good luck to all Opes clients and I hope some justice can come out of this sad situation.