Month: September 2018

In its first few weeks, the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Financial Services industry has opened the floodgates, and a torrent of misconduct, maladministration, technical incompetence  and downright fraudulent activity has poured out.  And it is not just one bank that has admitted some wrongdoing, but all of the Big Four.  Nor is it one product but, so far, a raft of bad lending, from mortgages to overdrafts and car loans, and more to come.

[Note An edited version of this article appeared in Australian Banking and Finance on 24th March 2018.  Many thanks to editor Elizabeth Fry.]

Continue reading “Banking Misconduct is the Symptom not the Cause!” →

The Royal Commission must investigate failures of Corporate Governance in the big Australian banks.

Like a grand Verdi opera, the Royal Commission (RC) into Misconduct in the Financial Industry is moving inexorably towards its climactic final act (or, in dry legal terms, Round 7).

The Commission may not end with the traditional ‘fat lady singing’ but likely with a parade of bank CEOs being wheeled in, to be publicly eviscerated by the Commissioner, Justice Haynes, and his ferocious counsel assisting, Rowena Orr QC.

[Note An edited version of this article appeared in Australian Banking and Finance on 16th September 2018.  Many thanks to editor Elizabeth Fry.]

Continue reading “Royal Commission shows tone from the top is silent” →