Radio Rental’s parent company Thorn Group has reached a settlement with Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) regarding historic breaches of responsible lending practices.

The settlement follows an ASIC investigation covering the period from January 2012 to May 2015, including Thorn’s remediation of customers and agreeing to a civil penalty of $2 million, with both these amounts already provided for in Thorn’s 2016-17 accounts.

ASIC accepted Thorn’s offer of an Enforceable Undertaking, which will see the company remediate certain fees and expenses paid by consumers who entered into relevant leases from the period 1 January 2012 to 1 May 2015. The total remediation will be approximately $6.1 million.

 Thorn said it made provision for both the civil penalty and the remediation in its prior year accounts.

“I am pleased we have reached this resolution with ASIC and the changes we have made to the consumer leasing division put it on a sound footing to meet the needs of its customers and satisfy its responsible lending obligations,” said acting CEO of the Thorn Group Peter Forsberg.

“Thorn’s consumer leasing business is the largest in Australia and it is now positioned to strengthen its offering in this segment. Consumer leasing is an important part of the financial system, as research shows that 3 million Australians are excluded from the financial mainstream.”

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