An uncomfortable and broad forensic analysis of the banking industry’s pricing practices may be underway via the ACCC.   In January treasurer Jim Chalmers directed the ACCC to undertake an inquiry into the deposit pricing antics of banks, and this study is now well underway. Gina Cass-Gottlieb, the ACCC chief, shared scraps on this inquiry at the AFR Banking Summit in Sydney yesterday.   “To inform the ACCC’s inquiry, we will be requesting information from suppliers of retail deposit products, and working closely with other financial regulators to draw on their expertise and data,” she said. “We will also soon release a public issues paper, seeking stakeholder input on a range of issues. These will include: ·      how banks and other authorised deposit-taking institutions set their rates on retail deposit products;·      how their approaches differ from rate setting for credit products;·      the role of deposits in their overall funding mix; and·      consumer information and switching.” Cass-Gottlieb will be well aware that the between them, the Productivity Commission and the ACCC have handed down half a dozen pretty hard-hitting reports on facets of consumer banking.  Mortgage mischief chief among them.   Nothing ever happens and nothing changes, so why would anything be different this time? The scale of the misconduct in deposit pricing to begin with. The entire banking industry is at risk and in the firing line.  It’s a lay down misere for the ACCC.