Day 446: 'What’s changed?’
Counting the days since the banking royal commission was established.
Good afternoon, and welcome to day 446.
Today in summary: CBA and Westpac were grilled by the House Standing Committee on Economics during its review of the four major banks; Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick questions whether new whistleblowing protections are worth the paper they’re printed on as a public servant faces a 161-year sentence for speaking out; and Westpac is scrapping sales-related bonuses for its 2300 bank tellers in an effort to claw back trust from wary customers.
-- Alex
@AlexESampson
Current banker panic level: 😓🤐🤑
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1. The Commonwealth Bank and Westpac submitted to a grilling by the House Standing Committee on Economics during its review of the four major banks today.
Westpac had “already completed or are already implementing” 25 of those of the 53 recommendations from the banking royal commission that were up to the sector to bring in. CBA released a report this morning with a comprehensive response to each recommendation and during the hearing CBA chief Matt Comyn said the bank was taking steps toward implementing all of Hayne’s recommendations. Both banks brushed off fears that the mortgage broking industry would collapse under a fee restructure.
2. Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick, who has been vocal in calling on the government to implement the recommendations of the banking royal commission, has demanded the government step in and stop the prosecution of former Australian Taxation Office public servant Richard Boyle, who is facing a 161-year prison sentence after he turned whistleblower and reported the poor culture at the ATO to media.
Bank buster Adele Ferguson writes in the SMH that Senator Patrick sent a letter Attorney-General Christian Porter this week questioning how a case like this could be brought right after the parliament approved extra protections for whistleblowers — including additional measures to protect current and former workers who speak out on tax misconduct — arguing a case like this would undermine public confidence in the whistleblowing process.
Senator Patrick wrote in a two-page letter:
“It is your clear duty to intervene and bring this prosecution to an end.”
3. Westpac told parliament today it was reviewing its remuneration policy for senior executives, but in a separate announcement revealed cuts were also happening down the line, with the bank scrapping sales-related bonuses for its 2,300 bank tellers in an effort to rebuild trust with customers following the banking royal commission. Customer-satisfaction-type bonuses will be cut from April and replaced with a A$500 fixed pay increase.
Today’s burn prize: Labor MP Josh Wilson
🔥🔥🔥
“That’s not really answering my question. What’s changed at the bank to ensure that what happened in your experience – and more importantly to all the people who were pushed wrongly into those insurance products – is not going to happen again?”
Panellists became frustrated with vague answers provided by CBA chief Matt Comyn during questioning today at the House Standing Committee on Economics’s review of the four major banks. Wilson questioned Comyn about CBA’s practice of pushing customers into insurance products they didn’t want or need.
The Commentariat
Chanticleer writes that the main question to be posed by MPs at today’s House Standing Committee on Economics review of the four major banks is whether they have really suffered enough yet. He points to Labor MP Matt Thistlethwaite’s repeated questioning of Matt Comyn about whether he was "happy" with the final recommendations of the royal commission.
“But Thistlethwaite's point was that the banks had apparently got off lightly, going on the $20 billion rally in bank stocks following the release of the commission's final report in early February.”
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