PM call to tape bankers
PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull wants banks and financial advisers to be forced to give “plain language” advice to customers and have their conversations recorded, as he vents his anger at the conduct of the sector unveiled by the banking royal commission.
In an interview with News Corporation, Mr Turnbull said he was angry about the revelations unearthed during the past two weeks of hearings, which included banks charging fees to dead people and allegations that adviser AMP deliberately misled the regulator.
“I’m angry, I’m disappointed of course, I think like everyone is,” Mr Turnbull said.
“A lot of these banks and financial institutions, and … certainly the financial planning industry … there are too many cases where customers were not put first.”
As the royal commission heard yesterday that AMP could face criminal sanctions, Mr Turnbull said the Government would make sure “those responsible will be brought to account”.
“We will make sure this won’t happen again,” he said.
Despite long opposing the royal commission, Mr Turnbull said it was a “good thing” that the behaviour had now been made public, and revealed he had told the banks they should change the pro- cess for giving advice to customers, saying disclosure documents were often difficult to understand, and “written by lawyers for lawyers”.
“It’s very important that products be explained in plain language and I think that we should, in 2018, be ensuring that that discussion is actually recorded,” he said.
Likening the proposal to “informed consent” given by patients about to undergo surgery, Mr Turnbull said if advice was recorded, financial advisers could then be held account if something went wrong.
“If an issue arose, you would be able to see whether the adviser actually did do the right thing or not,” he said, adding he believed the proposal was under consideration by some banks.
Mr Turnbull’s push for new regulation in the sector comes as the Government attempts to win support for its corporate tax cut package that would benefit the big four banks, which he said he still hoped could be passed by the Senate.
But after dumping the unpopular Medicare tax levy hike, Mr Turnbull refused to say whether other policy “barnacles”, such as the decision to scrap the energy supplement, would be shed in next month’s budget.
Mr Turnbull was in Perth yesterday to unveil $3.2 billion in new federal funding for the state to unlock $5.4 billion in infrastructure projects. MAJOR roads in the Surf Coast Shire will be closed for most of the morning today for the RACV Great Ocean and Otway Ride Classic cycling event.
Participants will ride up to 204km of road through Otway Ranges farmland and rainforest as well as a stretch of the Great Ocean Road between Lorne and Torquay.
Cyclists will share the famous road with motorists. The road will remain open with traffic controls in place.
The event is raising funds for the Amy Gillett Foundation, which works towards safer cycling conditions on Australian roads.
To donate to the foundation visit greatoceanotway classic.com.au.