The Banking Code Compliance Monitoring Committee's annual report for 2016/17, released yesterday, shows that Australia's banks self-reported 10,402 code breaches in FY 2016/17. For the third consecutive year, the key risk area to emerge was the provision of credit. The Committee described the 4,200 self-reported breaches of provision of credit obligations as "a distinct concern".The Committee's inquiry into provision of credit, released in January 2017, identifies areas where banks can improve lending, particularly in relation to the introduction of 'serviceability buffers' and the assessment of credit card top ups."Of all the obligations in the Code, those reflecting the provision of credit are among the most important," committee chair Christopher Doogan said.  The annual report also shows that banks are still not meeting their obligations to cancel direct debits at a customer's request.  'Mystery shopping' research found that more than half (54 per cent) of bank staff gave customers incorrect responses to questions about cancellation of direct debits.  Banks received 303,635 requests from customers seeking financial difficulty assistance (nine per cent more than last year). Banks granted assistance in around three-quarters (73 per cent) of these cases, but approval rates varied substantially between banks.