This report finds that the Australian finance sector’s concentration on profits at all costs compromises the ethical integrity of workers in the industry. The report argues that while the Banking Royal Commission uncovered widespread misconduct in Australia’s banking and financial services sector, it failed to...

Against the background of last year’s Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and the Financial Services Industry, the third Indigenous Super Summit provided a timely opportunity for the industry to come together to examine progress to date on lifting standards of superannuation service...

The Morrison Government has released this strategy document to set out how the government will deliver on its response to the Royal Commission. The roadmap provides timelines for implementing the federal government's response, in an attempt to provide some clarity and certainty to consumers, the...

Risk climate (or risk culture) has become an increasingly important focus since the 2007-09 financial crisis. Despite efforts to inculcate risk climate, unethical pro-organisational behaviour (UPB) such as misconduct toward customers continues to occur. This study investigates whether four risk climate factors (avoidance, valued, proactive...

Josh Frydenberg wants to leave mortgage broker commissions unchanged for three years. It's hard to see why.

The intractable maths of low income earners' family budgets pushes them towards the marginal credit products such as payday loans, consumer leases and debt management firms. This report argues that government can and should improve the terms under which these products are offered.

ASIC has provided this update on its planned actions in relation to the recommendations of the report of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

Kenneth Hayne has shown the way ahead for government, regulators and the banks themselves, writes Tim Colebatch.

The Federal Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has released this Australian government’s response to the Royal Commission.

The central task of the Royal Commission was to inquire into and report on whether any conduct of financial services entities might have amounted to misconduct and whether any conduct, practices, behaviour or business activities by those entities fell below community standards and expectations. The...

Australia has a rare opportunity to secure a common approach to family violence as part of the response to the banking royal commission. Our financial institutions should embrace it.

There are practical steps we can take right now to fix the banks. History suggests they'll never do it left to themselves.

This report focuses on a number of key issues in the current consumer protection system. The list of key issues is not intended to be comprehensive; rather, the report provides a 'snapshot' of concerns raised in evidence about consumer protections, or the lack thereof, in...

This technical paper, requested by the Royal Commission, examines aspects of the regulation of financial product and service providers in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United States.

This research paper argues that any proposed policy action to manage conflicts of interest should ideally undergo further testing in the field in which it will be implemented to assess the likely real-world impact. This would improve the design of the policy and monitor the...

Consumer education, self-regulation by banks, and even stronger enforcement efforts by government regulators all have failed to curb incidents of financial misconduct and unethical behaviour. This submission provides a possible solution that has so far been overlooked - sector-wide collective bargaining to establish uniform, ethical...

The Commission’s work, so far, has shown conduct by financial services entities that has brought public condemnation. Some conduct was already known to regulators and the public - some was not. Why did it happen? The answer seems to be greed – the pursuit of...

A majority of Australians believe the Royal Commission into Banks and Financial Services has uncovered more wrong doing (70%) and is most important for Australians (65%) compared to the Royal Commission into Trade Unions.

ASIC asserts that it is working to provide a fair, strong and efficient financial system for all Australians. Underpinning this vision is the recognition that every dollar in the financial system is other people’s money.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the factors that influence how insurers provide general and life insurance to consumers to assist consumers manage risk. It also discusses the size and composition of the general and life insurance industries, and the main...

An important feature of the modern life insurance market is that all products, except trauma or critical illness insurance, are sold both on an individual basis as well as a group basis. There are three sectors or sales channels for life insurance: through an advice...

At the request of the Royal Commission, this paper discusses recent and prospective reforms affecting the general and life insurance sectors. Many of the reforms enhance ASIC’s oversight and capacity to intervene in the industry.

Life insurance is a type of insurance which provides cover for death, disability, a health condition, some illnesses and injuries.

In this submission, the Department of the Treasury does not make recommendations, but seeks to set out the issues involved, the current regulatory framework and how it developed, and the trade-offs involved in various responses to matters currently being considered by the Royal Commission.

The purpose of this report is to explain aspects of the legal framework for the Australian superannuation system, focusing on the rules that govern the use of members’ funds by trustees and other professional financial services providers in the superannuation system. It also deals briefly...