Australia Banks Surge as Misconduct Report Delivers `Soft' Blow
- Fears of forced break-ups, tighter lending don’t materialize
- Recommendations have ‘no material financial impact,’ UBS says
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Australia bank shares surged after an inquiry into decades of wrongdoing stopped short of demanding a structural overhaul of the scandal-plagued industry or tighter lending rules that threatened to crunch profits.
While banks will face a tougher future with regulators empowered to crack down on wrongdoers, the 76 recommendations in the Royal Commission’s final report were widely seen as a reprieve for the banks, which had been battered as the probe unearthed a string of scandals from charging fees for no service and pushing people into poorly-performing products to meet bonus targets.