Royal Commission into Misconduct by Banks!
What is this royal commission about? The commission was established in December 2017 by the governor general to conduct an enquiry into them misconduct of the banks, superannuation and financial services industry.
In particular they will be looking into the following:
- Residential mortgages: with a focus on NAB’s ‘Introducer’ program, Aussie Home Loans’ fraudulent brokers and CBA broker arrangements
- Car finance: with a focus on the practices of Westpac/St George and ANZ/Esanda
- Credit cards: Westpac’s unsuitable credit card limit increases and Citi’s imposition of international transaction fees.
- Add-on insurance products: CBA’s credit insurance in connection with home loans, personal loans and credit cards.
- Credit offers: ANZ’s unsuitable pre-approved overdraft offers.
- Account administration: ANZ’s account administration errors and CBA’s unsuitable overdraft facilities and failure of automated systems.
The Commission is inviting submissions from any individuals wishing to report misconduct in the banking, superannuation, or financial services industries. Note the commission cannot resolve individual disputes, award compensation, or order parties involved in disputes to take / not take actions.
So far their has been 1894 submission received:
- 67% relate to banking
- 11% superannuation
- 6% general insurance
What will it be investigating?
- Dodgy financial advice
- Questionable spending of retirement savings
- Behaviour that falls below community standards and expectations
What does this mean for consumers?
The Royal Commission will present recommendations to the govenement for changes to legislation and regulations. The banks will be held accountable and there will be changes to policies surrounding the banking industry. What changes we will actually see as consumers we will need to wait until the end of the enquiry (2019).
For more information visit the Royal Commission into Bank Misconduct website.
Sources: abc.net.au and https://financialservices.royalcommission.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx