BRN In The Media

The delay, deny, deceive routine has had its day. It's now twelve months since Commissioner Hayne put out his final report on the Banking Royal Commission. It's no secret that banks behave badly. The secret is that despite all the revelations many bankers are still trying to mess with the minds of victims and avoid paying proper compensation. The game playing days are also over. Victims are giving their banks accurate, helpful and informative material and the staffers involved just can't handle it so they ignore it or respond inappropriately. What are they thinking? That we'll forget about it? That we'll give up and go away? That we'll take a token offering to shut up?

This article from The Australian's Joyce Moullakis highlights the types of cases that the Royal Commission deliberately ignored. How long before the banks start treating their customers with respect? The delays in settling the some of the most serious legacy cases is now beyond outrageous.

"Sorry" didn't cut it at Westpac's 2019 AGM. Shareholders grilled and heckled Westpac chairman Lindsay Maxsted for more than six hours at the AGM, putting the board on notice that further accountability will be sought.

The AGM came just weeks after the financial crimes regulator Austrac launched legal action in the Federal Court against the bank, alleging 23 million breaches of anti-money laundering laws, including links to payments funding child exploitation.

A beaut report from Joyce Moullakis & Richard Gluyas.

Something doesn't add up with Westpac's performance leading up to the Austrac scandal and it's not looking too good after a traumatic AGM. The Australian's Joyce Moullakis reports.

It was a very angry group of shareholders that pointed out the Westpac boards gross shortcomings at the 2019 AGM. Nothing like this has been seen since the Foreign Currency Loan / Westpac letters scandal in the early '90s. The bank's lawyers were up to their necks in crooked and unethical conduct then and as far as we can see bank lawyers feel they can get away with anything even now.

Questions need to be asked about the state of Australia's banking system. Clearly there is something very wrong when billions of dollars are being set aside to remediate clients who have been ripped off one way or another. The banking model is flawed. It is not designed to provide a meaningful service to customers. Banking is taking far too much of the county's wealth to benefit international elite interests. This powerful article from The Australian's Joyce Moullakis is well worth a read. It will trigger thoughts regarding the nature of the banks' commitment to remediation. A lot of money has been set aside - but how much will actually end up in customers' pockets?

All the MPs interviewing Matt Comyn have done a magnificent job. BRN gives kudos to each and every one of them. This article from the AFR's James Eyers is a beaut - kudos to James too. Matt Comyn has work to do. Victims of bank crimes are now organised. We are not going away. The only measure we have is the way banks remediate aggrieved customers and how they act to prevent crimes and misconduct in the future. The environment has now changed. Banks, their directors and their CEOs need to recognise that and change the way they are doing  business. The people want an honest financial service system .... we are not here to be fleeced.