If you want to have some input into the Royal Commission on Banking and don’t know where to start I can recommend the Choice Campaign site https://campaigns.choice.com.au/royalcommissionbanks/ to get you started. Take the “plunge” and give voice to your concerns and let the banks take the roasting they seem to need. Then let all your friends and acquaintances know about it so they can add their voices.
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The royal commission is getting ready to hold its first hearing as banks file 10 years of misconduct:
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Who would have ever guessed? There has been nothing to see as far as government is concerned.
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I think the government really does think the populous to be idiots…
“The report stated that Australia’s big four banks had “substantial market power”, allowing them to “pass on cost increases and set prices” without losing market share.”
No kidding sherlock! They probably could have asked anyone on the street and got the same answer… great to see our tax dollars been invested so well… maybe we should start pumping money into exporting weapons instead? Oh, we are 
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I know every time I’ve been caught up in a fraud scandal, $375,000,000 is the amount that springs to mind for me to set aside …
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A federal government report describes the banking sector as institutionally anti-competitive. From the article:
“The 638-page report describes an industry where loyal customers end up being charged more money for select services because ultimately brokers are paid by the banks, there are too many nonsensical products, and switching between banks is arduous.”
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More news - Big banks refund $21m for loose credit card practices:
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What I think is a good write up of what the RC may bring and what may be lost:
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More news on the RC into banking, home loans, car loans and credit cards top the agenda:
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Much ado has been made of the Banking RC’s stance on Confidentiality Agreements but RCs have always held power to compel evidence regardless of any “In Confidence” and similar agreements. If subject to these RC powers a person or organisation cannot be held accountable for any breach of a “gag” agreement. The Banks and others (and particularly their legal counsels) would be well aware of these powers. The statements made would not have been really required, It makes me wonder/question what the reasoning was behind the reminders.
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Will the Royal Commission be a complete fizzer?
Lindsay Davis argues that the Banking commission is worthless without alleged victims.
and "While illegal misconduct by mortgage lenders appears systemic, what is even more concerning is that our financial regulators, such as the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (Apra) and Australian Securities and Investment Commission (Asic) who are supposed to protect society from financial misconduct, appear to be caught up in what is described as “regulatory capture”.
This is the situation that occurs when a government’s regulatory agency ends up advancing the political or commercial concerns of the very people, companies or entities it is supposed to be regulating."
A grim situation.
Can Choice help?
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Choice have submitted a complaint/submission to the Commission including victims stories (multiple people). They are also attending the Commission to speak to the RC. If you wish to add to their submission I would advise you to add your points to https://campaigns.choice.com.au/royalcommissionbanks/ and/or send a private message to Tony Ibrahim @TonyIbrahim in this forum.
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It’s all “victim-less crime” in the banking industry because the don’t call us ‘victims’, they call us ‘customers’ …
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I would like to receive information about the banking royal commission, especially credit cards as information becomes available.
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Hi @Eggberta, I’ve added you to this thread, where we’ll post relevant articles about the royal commission and you can ask questions or discuss issues with other users.
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Happy to see NAB being “grilled” at the commission. I only hope the grilling continues until all the worms are out of the woodwork.
See Westpac CEO’s admission re their Bank’s practices:
Possible Class Action over Credit Card Insurance:
Some other news about the day’s hearings 13 Mar 2018:
Another day another tale of lies, fraud at the Banking RC 14 Mar 2018:
16 Mar 2018
https://thenewdaily.com.au/money/finance-news/2018/03/16/aussie-home-loans-fraud/
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I was saddened by the reported comment that the Commission didn’t have time to hear all the grievances in relation to the banking industry.
Surely, they are only seeing the tip of the top of the iceberg through the fog of obfuscation, denial, and avoidance.
There are so many people out there who have been grievously hurt and deserve the opportunity to be heard after being disempowered for so long by the banks.
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I can understand the position of the Royal Commissioner. There are potentially 10000s of customers who believe that they have been treated unfairly by the banks. At the same time, there possibly is many of those who own actions may have lead to the grievances they have experienced (e.g. loan in arrears resulting in foreclosures etc).
The commission will be bogged down with such grievances and I feel for those in the commission who have to sort through bank induced grievances and self induced/customer circumstance grievances.
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I understand the scale of the problem, but I think some mechanism needs to be put into play where these people could be heard. It’s not just people with mortgages, it’s small businesses, farmers, retirees, and probably more that have been hurt.
Perhaps written submissions could be invited, with the opportunity to have some sort of parallel hearings in all states and territories for aggrieved customers to present the more complex cases, sort of like victim impact statements.
The collated results from the written submissions & the personal presentations should then be passed on to the Commission, so the Commission understands the full extent of the misery caused by the banks etc. malfeasances & malpractices.
Yes, it will cost a lot of money, but in my opinion, it is necessary to open this up and show the human toll of the greed that has been fostered as part of the finance sector’s corporate ethos. Only then will it be possible to remediate the situation. I also think that the financial sector should be made to pay the costs (based on their involvement in malfeasance & malpractice) as they are the cause of the problem.
I also support criminal proceedings being taken against the office holders who partook, promoted, or failed to prevent the malfeasances & malpractices.
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