A former principal researcher at bank regulator APRA has revealed in a submission to a Senate inquiry that, contrary to government reassurances, Australian bank deposits are not guaranteed.
When the government and financial authorities assure you your deposits are guaranteed, don’t believe them. They have proven time and again that in a financial crash they will put the survival of banks and their powerful owners first. The latest example of this is a European Union move to amend existing “bail-in” legislation to enable bank regulators to freeze even bank deposits that are covered by a government guarantee.
Are federal MPs willing to vote for a bill that could allow the deposits of their constituents—individuals, businesses, non-profits—to be confiscated to prop up a failing bank?
“A ticking time bomb!” That is what outgoing Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) boss Greg Medcraft last week called the bail-in bonds, a.k.a. hybrid securities, that APRA has allowed banks to sell to thousands of Australians.
Treasurer Scott Morrison has today introduced into Parliament the bill to give emergency powers to APRA, the regulator that has allowed the banks to abuse their power and positions.
