Most mortgage brokers provide good service.
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The push against brokers might be right in theory, wrong in practice.
Most of the economists polled think better regulation can make banks put customers first. The rest think it will need more.
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There are things we can do, but the Economic Society’s poll finds that not all of them are part of the traditional economists’ toolkit.
Royal Commissioner Kenneth Hayne wants simpler laws, and he is prepared to start small.
Eddie Jim/AAP
Complaints that Hayne didn’t recommend big changes miss the point.
Ken Henry on ABC 7.30 Thursday night. “We have not been able to satisfy customer expectations, nor community expectations. As I said, for that, we are deeply sorry.”
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We get defensive when the social order we have become accustomed to is challenged. We attempt to protect ourselves through projection, denial, games, blame, or rationalisation.
Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Ted Danson, Jameela Jamil and D'Arcy Carden from The Good Place. The TV series’ navigation of ethics shares touch points with Australia’s banking royal commission.
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American fantasy-comedy The Good Place has covered some surprisingly similar ground to Australia’s banking royal commission.
The remote community of Urapunga in South East Arnhem Land, more at the mercy of the finance industry than most.
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It’s far away from the cities and towns where banks and finance companies are really predatory, but it’s not where Hayne looked.
National Australia Bank was the only bank singled out for direct criticism on Monday, yet its share price jumped 4%.
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Bank shares soared 4% to 7% after the royal commission report. That could be because it will do them little harm.
In his letter Shorten said he noted that “government has agreed to some important legislative changes” arising from the commission.
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In a letter to Morrison, Shorten said both houses should be recalled on March 5-7 and March 12-14. The sitting calendar has only 10 sitting days before the election.
There’s a 10 to 15 year cycle for financial service royal commissions.
Kym Smith/AAP
While many Hayne’s recommendations are laudable and abolutely necessary, they are not sufficent to end of the regular cycle of appalling misconduct and inquiries.
If you are valued more for ends than means, you’ll cut corners with means.
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Tying incentives to contribute to profits can give bad results, but we need to tie them to something.
The government is acting on all 76 of Justice Hayne’s recommendations.
Peter Martin
Justice Hayne’s philosophy is diametrically opposed to the one the Coalition came into office with, yet it has embraced it and announced action.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will have to respond quickly to the Banking Royal Commission.
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The Morrison government has promised to establish a compensation scheme paid for by the financial services industry as it seeks to avoid damage from the banking royal commission.
It is just possible for the banks to regain our trust, but it won’t be easy.
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Rebuilding trust is possible, but as the aftermath of the banking crisis in the UK shows, very difficult.
Canadian bank boards are bigger, much bigger. It means they can deal with what’s in front of them.
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Evidence before the royal commission suggests Australian bank boards have been overpaid, underskilled and understaffed compared with those overseas.
Financial institutions often have all the information they need to identify suspected cases of economic abuse.
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The royal commission didn’t examine economic abuse. If it had it would have found there’s much banks can do.
A decision of the New Zealand government means if a New Zealand bank goes belly up, Australian taxpayers could find themselves cleaning up the mess.
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A mismatch between Australian and New Zealand regulations means Australian taxpayers could be on the hook if a New Zealand bank fails.
Australians are full of good ideas. Many made their debut in the pages of The Conversation.
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The Conversation played host to really important new ideas in 2018. Some will take years to develop. Others will never come to fruition. But they’re important.
Royal Commissioner Kenneth Hayne’s next move will either refashion the industry, or merely seek a commitment from it to behave better.
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With public hearings finished, insiders are making a last-ditch bid to either soften or sidetrack the final report of the banking royal commission.
Too much or too little information? The role of a secretary is to get the balance right.
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Proceedings at the banking royal commission suggest if it isn’t in the minutes of a board meeting, the board didn’t consider it. It makes the role of the company secretary critical.
NAB Chairman Ken Henry says it might take NAB ten years to fix itself. There’s no point in waiting.
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There are practical steps we can take right now to fix the banks. History suggests they’ll never do it left to themselves.