Regulators risk spoiling the game: Westpac boss
WESTPAC chief executive Brian Hartzer says regulators risk behaving like referees who call tactics rather than fouls if they interfere unnecessarily in how banks do business.
Eight months after appearing at the financial services royal commission, Mr Hartzer said he respected the role and purpose of the sector regulators, including ASIC and APRA.
But he likened one potential scenario facing the banks – which he said wanted to lend more but were constrained by a “highly prescriptive” legal and regulatory approach – to a game being spoiled by an overzealous referee.
“It’s not a perfect analogy but in any sport you’ve got to have rules ... you’ve got to have boundaries, you’ve got to have a referee, who’s calling fouls,” Mr Hartzer told the TransTasman Business Circle in Sydney. “But you don’t necessarily want the referee to say: ‘No, don’t stand there, stand over there.’
“It’s important to remember the royal commission was focused on cases of misconduct that were largely to do with financial planning.
“So I think it’s important not to conflate issues around misconduct and management of operational risk ... which were significant and we needed to improve on.”
Mr Hartzer called for government, regulators, business and lenders to unite to reignite economic growth.
“Post the election, we’ve seen an increase in business confidence and investment intentions among customers, but it hasn’t yet turned into a significant increase in real investment,” he said.