Parallels in the historical trajectory of AMP and IOOF are striking. Both were founded in the 1840s. Both demutualised, and now both find themselves centre stage at the banking royal commission.
The collapse of a royal commission witness provided a reminder of the stark differences between financial services and health services when it comes to caring for customers.
Stefan Postles/AAP
The financial services industry is in need of a new paradigm to rediscover what finance is for – to improve the financial and economic well-being of society.
ASIC boss James Shipton has signalled a shift to more vigorous enforcement and Treasurer Scott Morrison has bolstered the regulator’s funding to enable this.
Luis Ascui/AAP
Putting regulators inside corporations isn’t new, and the US experience highlights risks of regulatory capture, but the move could make a difference if ASIC is shifting to more robust enforcement.
New AMP chair David Murray’s prescription for corporate governance doesn’t acknowledge the structural drivers of systemic misconduct.
Joel Carrett/AAP
Evidence to the Banking Royal Commission points to the systemic failings of corporate governance built on the idea of shareholder primacy. It’s time to rethink the unitary board system for a start.
The royal commission has left AMP with a lot of explaining to do, much of it related to how performance targets drove poor behaviour.
Daniel Pockett/AAP
Pressure to meet ever-higher performance targets can lead to misconduct of the sort exposed by the royal commission. Targets need to operate within a framework of ethical governance to avoid this.
From the first hearings of the royal commission, the senior counsel assisting, Rowena Orr QC, laid bare the toxic culture behind many consumer lending practices.
Eddie Jim/AAP
Restructuring might help manage conflicts of interest between offering advice and selling products, but it doesn’t fix the culture that sacrifices customers’ interests to the pursuit of profits.
We’re great at rationalising our own actions, whether it’s profiteering or eating meat.
Mavis Wong
Under the right circumstances, most people will act in ways that are opposed to their own morals.
It is hoped that the Royal Commission will bring a renewed enthusiasm for suitable and properly adapted customer service provision that values Indigenous consumers and take their circumstances into account.
AAP Image/Dean Lewins
With enough will and resourcing, many of the structural issues that make financial services a trial for many Indigenous consumers can be overcome. But we need more regulation to deter sharp practice.
CatholicCare NT has teams who take time to develop culturally and community appropriate practices.
Photo credit: J. Louth
We are seeing widespread financial exploitation because of cultural, economic and political factors that haven’t been addressed. Regulators should do more.
Bob Katter leads a group of farmers out of the royal commission hearing in Brisbane.
AAP
A number of factors have contributed to the horrible stories coming out of the Royal Commission, including market instability and the financialisation of farming.
The Financial Services Royal Commission has exposed some irresponsible lending by Australia’s biggest banks.
Glenn Hunt/AAP
The financial institutions fronting the Financial Services Royal Commission are also the ones controlling mortgages, so will an expose of their dealings push property prices down?
Westacott is on the frontline in what has become the toughest of gigs, given the shocking disclosures, and subsequent fallout, in the financial sector.
This bald-faced refusal to acknowledge their own inconvenient history in part comes from the politicians’ belief that if you just burnish the “spin”, you can get away with saying anything.
Executive Director @ Australian Institute of Performance Sciences, Strategic Partner @ Swinburne University MedTechVic, and Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Public Policy and Governance at, University of Technology Sydney