Against the Grain: Australian Banks Face Rural Lending Reckoning

Against the Grain: Australian Banks Face Rural Lending Reckoning
A stockman rides his horse as he leads another down a road towards the cattle yards in the outback town of Windorah, Queensland, Australia, August 11, 2017. Reuters/David Gray/File Photo
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SYDNEY—Australian potato farmer Tom Fox says he had never missed a bank payment in two decades before a delay sending a shipment to Indonesia during a trade dispute between the countries prompted his lender to force him into receivership in 2013.

“I got a letter from the bank lawyers saying I had 12 hours to come up with A$2.4 million ($1.8 million), and that was an impossibility to do on that notice,” Fox told Reuters.