Amid growing cross-bench and backbench support for a Royal Commission, the Federal Treasurer, Scott Morrison is continuing to point to the ongoing work of the Parliamentary Committee inquiry into the four major banks as a satisfactory alternative.
The Treasurer also cited the legislation underpinning the Life Insurance Framework (LIF) and higher professional and education standards for advisers as being part of the approach.
Morrison said the work of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics was providing the banks with an opportunity to explain how they were responding to the concerns of Australian consumers and businesses and promised the Government would be responding to the Committee’s first report following the completion of this latest series of hearings and the release of the Productivity Commission’s final report on Open Adana due next month.
He said the Government was aware the behaviour of the major banks had not lived up to the expectations of regular Australians, adding that the Government was prepared to stamp out malpractice while ensuring victims had access to appropriate dispute resolutions and remedies.
“That is why we are progressing our legislative agenda, with two significant pieces of legislation enacted this month – raising the professional standards for all financial advisers and reducing the incentives for life insurance products to be inappropriately replaced,” Morrison said.
He said the Government was also progressing legislation to protect retail client monies held by brokers and other intermediaries.
