KEY POINTS:
Turmoil in financial markets has led to a 37 per cent rise in complaints to the Banking Ombudsman.
In her 2008 report, Liz Brown said many complaints were from customers who had bought into investments through their banks.
Many of the customers were elderly, and almost all related to one of two funds provided by ING (NZ).
The funds struck difficulties in the latter part of last year and withdrawals were suspended in March.
Some people were encouraged to release their funds from deposit accounts for investment in these complex investment products.
They complained they were poorly advised, that features of the investment had been misrepresented or inadequately explained and the investment was not suitable for their purposes.
"As at June 30 we had not concluded any investigations into these complaints, although we facilitated the settlement of a few of them," Ms Brown said.
"We had also assisted the bank most affected to identify cases where its customers were suffering financial hardship and to offer some assistance."
The office of the Banking Ombudsman was established in 1992 and its service is free and independent. Banks must comply with recommendations of compensation.
During the year, the office handled 1773 phone inquiries. It received 949 complaints; 913 were completed.
