Is a free radical loose among the banking game of mates? Via The Age:
A bigger Australian Securities and Investments Commission will be better equipped to deal with banking misconduct driven in part by a lack of competition, the head of the corporate regulator says.
ASIC chairman James Shipton told Senate Estimates on Wednesday evening that ASIC needed to grow, not just in terms of funding but also in terms of capabilities.
“What we now need is a constructive conversation about the powers, positioning and right-sizing of ASIC,” Mr Shipton said.
As we know, Shipton was also vociferous about new punishments for white collar crime, at Domainfax:
Australian Securities and Investments Commission boss James Shipton has called for a radical increase in the regulator’s funding and slammed delays to legislation that will dramatically increase penalties against business crooks.
Appearing at a parliamentary hearing in Canberra, Mr Shipton made his strongest speech since being appointed to the top job at the regulator last year.
Mr Shipton told the hearing that the stalled legislation to increase corporate penalties by up to 10 times was essential for ASIC to be able to do its job properly.
But we just can’t have that. Via Chanticleer today on the $35m settlement between ASIC and Westpac on breaches of responsible lending laws:
As part of the settlement Westpac agreed it had breached its responsible lending obligations.
…At the core of the case is the use of the Household Expenditure Measure benchmark, which Hayne says is inadequate for assessing the expenses of home loan borrowers.
Unlike enforceable undertakings between ASIC and financial institutions, which involve small donations to charity, this settlement required Federal Court approval.
The court appears likely to find the settlement void because, ironically, the penalty is not high enough and the parties have failed to agree on the interpretation of the Act.
Meanwhile, ASIC’s corrupt sister regulators have turned tail and run. The corrupt Treasury is openly trying to restore criminal banking:
Treasury secretary Philip Gaetjens has warned that a key risk to Australia’s strong economy is banks cutting their lending too much in response to the Royal Commission into financial services and tougher credit rules imposed by the prudential regulator.
Amid complaints from small business and home buyers that they are finding it harder to attain finance, Mr Gaetjens said a tightening of credit conditions could constrain household consumption and business investment.
“There is also some evidence of a modest tightening in lending standards by banks which could be limiting access to credit for some borrowers who may previously been able to borrow,” he told a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Wednesday.
As we know, the corrupt RBA is also on board:
The Reserve Bank of Australia and Treasury have privately cautioned the Morrison government that any regulatory response to the financial services Royal Commission must be careful to avoid putting the brakes on lending to home buyers and business.
The flies on the wall at the Council of Financial Regulators have all died of the stink.
