PC finds a 'misuse of power' by banks
The Productivity Commission's final report into competition in the Australian financial system has found "banks have sustained prices above competitive levels, offered customers inferior quality products, subsumed much of the broker industry and stopped competitors expanding in some markets."Or so the Financial Review reports this morning."All are indicators of the use of market power to the detriment of customers," the report says. The Commission has also found customers are not being supplied with the right information to make choices about switching banks. The AFR's preview on this report is primarily an advance report on a speech that Scott Morrison, the treasurer, will deliver in Sydney today, once the Productivity Commission's final report is in the public domain for all to read.In a break from convention, Morrison will, according to the AFR, critique prudential regulation, saying it "has had a dulling effect on customers" and "put us to sleep"."Regulation may have played a pivotal role in making our banking and financial system stronger in a prudential sense. But it hasn't necessarily made the customer any stronger," Morrison will say.