ANZ to front parliamentary committee on alleged bond manipulation
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The news: The CEOs of Australia’s four major banks will appear before the House Standing Committee on Economics in Canberra on 29 and 30 August 2024 for its Review of Australia’s four major banks.
The context: Committee chair Daniel Mulino said the CEOs of ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac will be asked about a range of topics following "an eventful year for banking".
This includes high interest rates and cost-of-living issues to major losses from scams, allegations that ANZ manipulated the bond market, and banks playing a growing role in the green energy transition. ANZ CEO Shayne Elliot and the bank's group executive for Australian retail Maile Carnegie will appear on Friday.
Mulino noted that the committee’s scrutiny was timely, with most major banks at odds with the Reserve Bank’s messaging on future interest rate moves in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.
What they said: “At our 16 August public hearing, the RBA Governor told us it is premature for commentators to be thinking about rate cuts, yet the major banks all predict an easing cycle in the near to medium term,” Mulino said. “We want to understand the reasoning.”
Mulino said the committee would also ask how banks can better protect customers from increasingly sophisticated scams.
“Australians lost $2.7 billion to scams last year, with a marked increase in scams from social media," he said.
“The banks are obviously not the only powerful corporations in this space, but they are incredibly important—and many people are rightly calling on them to do more to protect vulnerable customers.”
Mulino also said the committee was very concerned by recent allegations of misconduct by ANZ.
“The Hayne Royal Commission was a watershed moment in terms of resetting expectations about ethical conduct by banks,” he said.
“One of our core roles since the Hayne Royal Commission has been regular public scrutiny of the banks through these hearings to discourage ethical backsliding, and the allegations against ANZ are obviously extremely serious.”
The source: Parliament of Australia media release
