Complaints about poor financial advice have dominated the Banking Ombusdman's workload this year.
The ombudsman's annual report, released on Monday, blames turmoil in the international financial markets for a 37% increase in the number of complaints received.
Banking Ombudsman Liz Brown says the extra complaints related almost entirely to poor financial advice and were centred around those who invested in the company ING, whose funds are now frozen.
Ms Brown says a number of complaintants felt that they were poorly advised, or the risks had not been properly explained.
She says her office has been forced to put off several projects due to the number of complaints.
