Regulation: FlashFX

Banks to ditch sales incentives to ‘restore trust’

THE toxic sales culture in Australian banks that sees customers saddled with inappropriate financial products may finally be coming to an end. Maybe. All four big banks have committed to winding back the “deep-seated” culture of product-based incentive payments after an independent review into the practice. Stephen Sedgwick AO, the

Regulation

ASIC enforcement taskforce recommends tightening bank rules to protect customers

Banks, financial services houses and credit companies will face public naming and shaming over bad behaviour in a suite of major reforms being considered by the Turnbull government. However, the reforms put forward by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission enforcement review task force do not include naming the executives

Regulation

ASIC’s Greg Medcraft lashes bank ‘oligopoly’

Chairman of the corporate watchdog Greg Medcraft lashed out at the banking “oligopoly” for chipping away at customer trust with sector-wide interest rate hikes out-of-cycle with the Reserve Bank of Australia. “I think every time you do an out-of-cycle increase you chip away that trust,” Mr Medcraft said. “It’s

Australia

ANZ, Westpac admit breaches in forex trading

ANZ and Westpac have followed rivals and yielded to the corporate regulator’s investigation into banks’ foreign exchange businesses, agreeing to oversight and changes after traders shared confidential client information and traded to benefit themselves. Similarly to the CBA and NAB transgressions, ASIC said Westpac traders disclosed confidential details of

Ripple

Ripple Supports Efforts to Drive Thoughtful Regulation

Innovation in banking often results from the convergence of three key domains: financial services, technology, and regulations. The regulatory framework is a crucial aspect of innovation. When crafted in a balanced, proactive way, regulations can directly drive positive innovation and market competition. This is why Ripple has been an active

Currency

US Treasury's Mnuchin tells IMF to monitor currencies

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called on the International Monetary Fund to provide "candid analysis" of exchange-rate policies in member countries. Mnuchin spoke by phone with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde in what was among the first contacts between the fund and the administration of President Donald Trump,

Banks

How to stop banks behaving badly

Stephen Bartholomeusz writes in The Australian "On the eve of Christmas Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse reached a settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice for their roles in the subprime crisis that triggered the wider financial crisis in 2008. There were sighs of relief all around that

Banks

CBA and NAB admit impropriety in foreign exchange trading

The Age writes "Commonwealth Bank and the National Australia Bank have entered into enforceable undertakings with ASIC after foreign exchange traders were revealed to have front run orders on personal accounts and triggered client stop-loss orders. "The extraordinary behaviour is laid bare in separate enforceable undertakings (EUs) from

Regulation

US Regulator Will Start Issuing Bank Charters for Fintech Firms

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will allow upstarts to become ‘special purpose national banks’ Firms offering online loans, smartphone payments and other financial technology products would get new flexibility to expand and further shake up the U.S. banking industry under a proposed new federal policy. A top

Regulation

ASIC report: Money for nothing - banks behaving badly

The numbers are simply staggering. Almost 200,000 customers have been systemically rorted of an estimated $178 million for financial advice services they never got. Customers were literally paying their hard-earned money for nothing, while the big four banks and AMP raked in the fees. This article, published last week