Misconduct central theme of Labor's banking royal commission
The Labor Party's proposed Royal Commission into the banking and financial services industry would be "wide-ranging", opposition leader Bill Shorten said on Friday.Shorten said the inquiry would examine issues such as: how widespread instances of illegal and unethical behaviour are within Australia's financial services industry; how Australia's financial services institutions treat their duty of care to their customers; how the culture, ethical standards and business structures of Australian financial services institutions affect the behaviour of these institutions; whether Australia's regulators are really equipped to identify and prevent illegal and unethical behaviour; comparable international experience with similar financial services industry misconduct and best practice responses to those incidents; and other events that may come to light in the course of investigating the above.Shorten headlined the planned Royal Commission as being one into "misconduct in the banking and financial services industry."The Australian Bankers Association objected to the rationale for any inquiry on Friday, with its CEO, Stephen Munchenberg, asserting that Labor's policy would unsettle international investors.Others in the sector are supportive.Industry Super Australia, in a media release, said it "believes the call for a Royal Commission into Australia's vertically integrated banks is justified ... [we are] increasingly concerned that the lack of community trust and confidence in the scandal-prone banks could infect public confidence in their lines of business in compulsory super," a foretaste of the wrangle over business models that will inform much of the work of any inquiry.