The Financial Services Royal Commission in its first fortnight of hearings in March laid bare the massive mortgage fraud in the major banks, and exposed the banks as criminal enterprises. This week it is holding hearings into the big banks’ financial advice scams, and the “vertical integration” structure that enables the banks to direct depositors into their other businesses to be fleeced.
In its first fortnight of hearings, the Banking Royal Commission drew the nation’s attention to the huge problem of mortgage fraud. The hearings showed that each of the big four banks, which together control 80 per cent of banking in Australia, have engaged in fraud on a massive scale. The fraud is not confined to the margins of the home loan business, but infects the majority of mortgages, which means most borrowers can’t afford their loans.
The terms of reference that Malcolm Turnbull gave to the Banking Royal Commission only allow it to examine specific failings of regulators in relation to banking misconduct. It is not allowed to examine “macro-prudential policy”, which is the regulatory structure of the financial system, and the policies of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), the bank regulator.
APRA/ASIC/ACCC/AUSTRAC, Royal Commission, Bail-in, Banking / Finance
