Four major banks to face further Parliamentary scrutiny

THE House of Representatives Committee on Economics will conduct further public hearings with Australia’s four major banks in October as part of its ongoing scrutiny.

The committee’s First Report was published in November 2016, following on from the initial public hearings in October. The committee affirmed the ten recommendations of its November Report in April 2017 following on from the further public hearings held in March of this year. In the May Budget, the Government broadly adopted nine of the Committee’s ten recommendations.

Recommendations adopted by the Government relating to the banking sector include a one-stop-shop for consumer complaints, a regulated executive accountability regime, and new powers and resources for the ACCC in investigating competition issues in the setting of interest rates.

The committee’s mandate from the Government to review the banking sector is ongoing. The Chair of the committee, Mr David Coleman MP, stated that "these hearings provide an important mechanism to hold the four major banks to account before the Parliament."

The hearings with the banks will be held across two days in October. In finalising the dates for the hearings, the committee took into account the views of AUSTRAC in relation to its current proceedings against the Commonwealth Bank. The allegations against the Commonwealth Bank are extremely serious and the committee notes that a Case Management meeting is scheduled for September 4.

Public hearing details: 
Wednesday, 11 October, 9.15 am to 4:15 pm, Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra

9.15am – 12.15pm Westpac
1.15pm – 4.15pm ANZ

Friday, 20 October., 9.15 am to 4.15 pm, Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra

9.15am – 12.15pm NAB
1.15pm – 4.15pm CBA

The hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live

 Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website. 

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