Sydney,
\nAn independent inquiry into the Australian financial services sector was announced today in a bid to quell public anger at the massively profitable banking system after a series of scandals.<\/p>\n
The country\u2019s \u201cbig four\u201d lenders\u2014among the developed world\u2019s most wealthy\u2014have been under scrutiny in recent years amid allegations of dodgy financial advice, life insurance and mortgage fraud.<\/p>\n
There have also been claims of anti-money laundering laws being breached and benchmark interest rates rigged.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a former investment banker, has long resisted Labor opposition calls for a royal commission into banking misconduct, claiming it would be a waste of money, but mounting political pressure forced his hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cOngoing speculation and fear-mongering about a banking inquiry or royal commission is disruptive and risks undermining the reputation of Australia\u2019s world-class financial system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government has decided to establish this royal commission to further ensure our financial system is working efficiently and effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n
The big banks have also been opposed to any inquiry, but in a letter to Treasurer Scott Morrison ahead of Turnbull\u2019s announcement the chairpersons and chief executives of ANZ, Commonwealth, NAB and Westpac said such a measure was now in the national interest.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur banks have consistently argued the view that further inquiries into the sector, including a royal commission, are unwarranted,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, it is now in the national interest for the political uncertainty to end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year Turnbull announced the big banks would have to face a parliamentary committee for an annual grilling to \u201cdrive cultural change\u201d, in a bid to address public discontent about their behaviour.<\/p>\n
But pressure has since been building for a full independent inquiry, with a senator in Turnbull\u2019s Liberal coalition partner, the Nationals, preparing a private member\u2019s bill calling for a probe into the banks.<\/p>\n
It had rapidly gained support, with Turnbull\u2019s announcement seen as the government avoiding the embarrassment of its own side of politics compelling it to hold an inquiry.<\/p>\n
The inquiry, which has been allocated Aus$75 million (USD 57 million), will focus on the nature and extent of misconduct among banks, insurers, financial services providers and superannuation (pension) funds.<\/p>\n
It will also consider how well equipped regulators are to identify and address misconduct, but will not look into other matters such as financial stability or the resilience of the banks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sydney, An independent inquiry into the Australian financial services sector was announced today in a bid to quell public anger at the massively profitable banking system after a series of scandals. The country\u2019s \u201cbig four\u201d lenders\u2014among the developed world\u2019s most wealthy\u2014have been under scrutiny in recent years amid allegations of dodgy financial advice, life insurance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11660,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11661,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11659\/revisions\/11661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}