Major bank CEOs to face House Economics Committee

THE CEOs of Australia’s four major banks (ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac) will appear before the House Standing Committee on Economics in Canberra on  August 2024 29 and 30 for its review of Australia’s four major banks.

Committee Chair Daniel Mulino MP said it had been an eventful year for banking, from high interest rates and cost-of-living issues to huge losses from scams, allegations that ANZ manipulated the bond market, and banks playing a growing role in the green energy transition.

Dr Mulino said the committee looked forward to engaging with the major banks’ CEOs on these and other issues.

He said the committee’s scrutiny was timely, with most major banks at odds with the Reserve Bank’s messaging on future interest rate moves in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.

“At our August 16 public hearing, the RBA Governor told us it is premature for commentators to be thinking about rate cuts, yet the major banks all predict an easing cycle in the near to medium term. We want to understand the reasoning.”

Dr Mulino said the committee would also ask how banks can better protect customers from increasingly sophisticated scams.

“Australians lost $2.7 billion to scams last year, with a marked increase in scams from social media," he said.

“The banks are obviously not the only powerful corporations in this space, but they are incredibly important—and many people are rightly calling on them to do more to protect vulnerable customers.”

Dr Mulino also said the committee was very concerned by recent allegations of misconduct by ANZ.

“The Hayne Royal Commission was a watershed moment in terms of resetting expectations about ethical conduct by banks,” Dr Mulino said. “One of our core roles since the Hayne Royal Commission has been regular public scrutiny of the banks through these hearings to discourage ethical backsliding, and the allegations against ANZ are obviously extremely serious.”

Programs for the hearings and more details about the inquiries are available on the committee’s website.

Public hearing details

Date: Thursday 29 August 2024
Time: 9.15am to 5pm AEST
Banks: CBA and Westpac
Location: Main Committee Room, Parliament House, Canberra

Date: Friday 30 August 2024
Time: 9.15am to 5pm AEST
Banks: NAB and ANZ
Location: Main Committee Room, Parliament House, Canberra

The public hearings can be viewed on demand, or via live YouTube feeds, at https://www.aph.gov.au/live.

 

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