Economics
Bank Misconduct Under Scrutiny as Australia Inquiry Starts
- Fairness in consumer lending first focus of yearlong inquiry
- Scandals range from rate-rigging to mistreating customers
This article is for subscribers only.
Australia’s banks, rocked by years of scandals and wrongdoing, risk having further misconduct exposed as a powerful government-appointed inquiry into the nation’s financial industry starts.
The yearlong Royal Commission will examine the nation’s banks, insurers, financial services providers and pension funds, and consider whether regulators have enough power to tackle misconduct. The first public hearings will focus on allegations of “inappropriate or unsuitable” consumer lending, counsel assisting Kenneth Hayne, a former High Court judge appointed to run the inquiry, said in Melbourne Monday.