Banking, insurance and finance news

If there is no cash and the businesses cannot get banking services? It could be dictating community morals by stealth.

Excepting if my former suggestion has merit it would be right on!

But a decade ago just being a US citizen was enough to be denied banking services in some areas because of the onerous US laws introduced (FATCA and FINCEN) that any financial institution with a US branch was beholden to enforce. Lucky for me Australia rolled over quickly and agreed.

To the topic at hand, American’s morals are far less accepting of real world human behaviour than most western countries so the underlying problem could be in Canberra, or further away in Washington, and obscured by complex regulatory issues our banks do not want to deal with, so do not, or try not to?

Unravelling the real reasons nothing has been done to provide banking service to all legal entities and businesses and residents even after years of the problem being flagged suggests a healthy bit of scepticism is in order as to the why’s.

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Yes. It could be creating a third class of activity between legal and illegal i.e. legal but in practice you are prevented from doing it.

It would be so typical of government to outsource its dirty work to companies.

It is my suspicion that government’s desire for surveillance will eventually outweigh government’s desire to impose its moral judgements.

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An email update frpm Choice regarding banking reforms.

Hi XXXX,

I’ve just delivered your petition calling on the government to pass two key reforms that were recommended by the banking royal commission. These crucial laws will ensure that victims of financial crime are compensated and finance executives are held to account for misconduct. Thank you for adding your voice.

Thanks to your public support our campaign has made waves. Here’s what we’ve achieved together:

  • The petition reached over 21,000 signatures, with thousands of you sharing widely across social media and with friends and family
  • The campaign repeatedly made headlines and the victims of financial crime were featured in a powerful story on the ABC’s 7:30 program just last week
  • Industry groups, professional accounting bodies and community legal centres joined CHOICE in calling for these crucial banking royal commission reforms to be implemented without further delay
  • We’ve met with government, opposition and independent crossbench offices to share your concerns, and advocate for strong laws to be passed as soon as possible

This campaign has momentum because of people like you adding your voice. With the amount of sustained media coverage, we know Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is feeling the pressure.

Read more about the campaign in our latest article:

So what happens now? The petition is with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to consider, but we have to keep up the pressure to get these crucial reforms over the line. We’re pushing for both draft laws to be introduced (and strengthened) in Parliament in the next few weeks.

I’ll be in touch again soon with the next steps of this important campaign.

Thanks for your ongoing support,

Patrick Veyret
CHOICE

We’re CHOICE; the Australian Consumers’ Association
57 Carrington Rd Marrickville, NSW, 2204.

Mission driven
CHOICE is Australia’s biggest consumer movement. Starting from humble origins in 1959, with your help we’re now over 220,000 people strong. Can you support our mission? Become a CHOICE member.
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An article on Choice.

And the petition.

Anyone else notice that the ABC’s first headline for this article was a bit “too much” for the ABC and that the ABC has now bowdlerised it? i.e. if you were to link the exact same article today then the headline as shown in the Choice forum with the link would be different (“Sex shop owners frustrated by banking ban”). :rofl:

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ASIC takes IAG/NRMA to task.

And AMP cops a well deserved smackdown…

While AMP’s handling of this case looks a bit mean-spirited, it should serve as a cautionary tale for all customers … DON’T USE your work email for things that do not relate to doing your job.

I think there’s another lesson in there too … DON’T BUNDLE superannuation with life insurance. (Bundling is something that the government itself is discouraging in some ways, and that contributed to the problem in this case.)

Using work emails. If that isn’t the best advice I have seen all year, I don’t know what is.
:+1:

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A petition on change.org calling for the banks to be held accountable.

ASIC takes MLC to task.

“Sarah Court, deputy chair at ASIC, says insurance customers should be able to trust insurers to pay their full benefit in times of need.”

Not if they can avoid paying up.

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The Big 4 Banks. The gift that just keeps on giving, oops, taking.

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The Federal Court has fined Dixon Advisory and Superannuation Services Limited (Dixon Advisory) $7.2 million over the failure of 6 of their representatives to keep their clients best interests as the basis of their advice. This Court action was brought about by ASIC against Dixon Advisory, ASIC’s Court costs of $800,000 was also ordered against Dixon Advisory.

https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2022-releases/22-256mr-dixon-advisory-penalised-7-2-million-for-breaches-of-best-interest-obligations/

The breaches of the requirement occurred over a period of about 3 1/2 years up to 2019. Dixon Advisory are currently in Voluntary Administration and it is not clear if they will recommence business.

An important notice in the ASIC release

“ Former clients of Dixon Advisory may be eligible for compensation under a potential future Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR) but will need to take action as soon as possible (22-205MR).

Former clients who believe they have suffered loss as a result of the misconduct of Dixon Advisory and/or their former Dixon Advisory financial adviser should make a complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). Lodging a complaint with AFCA is a necessary step for clients to preserve their possible eligibility under a potential future CSLR.

If a former client of Dixon Advisory has already lodged their complaint with AFCA there is no need for them to do anything further at this time.”

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And a story that we may well be hearing a lot more about:

The financial crimes watchdog is investigating the Perth Mint. That could be bad news for all West Australians

The Perth Mint is the world’s largest producer of newly mined gold and turns over $26 billion a year — and now it’s in the crosshairs of Australia’s financial regulator.

Why is Australia’s financial crimes watchdog investigating the Perth Mint?

Why is Australia's financial crimes watchdog investigating the Perth Mint? - ABC News

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Former Shonkys recipient being taken to court by ASIC:

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18 posts were split to a new topic: A call for a Super Profit Tax on Banks

Another RBA Interest rate rise of 0.25% just before Christmas. I wonder how fast this will be passed on by lenders?

Of course, the question of how fast it will be passed onto depositors is also something to ponder (if it even does get passed on).

One headline paints it as Christmas pain, I think it will mostly be post-Christmas pain as the pre-Christmas spending hits loan and Credit Card repayments.

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Westpac first to go. Variable mortgage rate up, but also deposit rate up. Both by the full 25 basis points.

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I wonder if the Banks are becoming shy about not passing on the rate rises to depositors. Are they starting to have feedback that is making them uncomfortable about the disparity of lending Vs saving rates?

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The bank for International Settlements (BIS) is warning of ‘off the books’ debt from FX swap debt. They estimate the debt stands somewhere near $80 Trillion dollars (US). Part of the danger is that a missed repayment by a debtor could cause large liquidity issues. The GFC was started with a debt of around $920 billion dollars (US) which is less than 1% than these current FX swap debts. BIS warn that this hidden debt is leading to liquidity decisions by Central Banks being made in a “fog”.

BIS report

Dollar debt in FX swaps and forwards: huge, missing and growing (bis.org)

Reuters report on the issue

FX swap debt a $80 trillion ‘blind spot’ BIS says | Reuters

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Another 0.25% rate rise just announced today by the RBA, the official rate is now 3.85% and for a mortgage of $500,000 this adds another $78 to the monthly payment.

This has been a call that many had not anticipated due to the falling inflation rate which went from 7.8% to 7%. The RBA Governor has stated the latest rise was to further curb the inflation rate to bring it back to the 2 - 3% preferrred rate sooner rather than later. How will this affect home budgets, what further cuts can households make to help find those extra dollars?

Are the rises actually doing the right job? Australia is still going ahead with the stage 3 tax cuts that are benefiting mostly the more wealthy, meaning that any rate rise in housing interest rates is going to affect the lower income earners much more than those who have handsome income streams. It may perversely further exacerbate the increase in rental rates, so, further impacting housing affordability for lower income families who do not have the funds to match the rises in rentals that may well be experienced.

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