Small Business Ombudsman Kate Carnell says the prospect of a royal commission into Australia’s banking sector needs to remain on the table if the Ramsay Review into dispute resolution can’t find a way to deal with SMEs that have faced conflict with the banks over loan terms.
You’d be forgiven for not knowing that the Australian Greens almost pulled off an audacious coup on the final day of this week’s parliamentary session.
With the banks preparing a new code of conduct following calls for better customer protections, the deputy chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Peter Kell has warned that, without strong enforcement mechanisms, the effort will merely be seen as window dressing by a sceptical public.
Finally, after 18 months, the banks have caved in on small business bank overdraft agreements. Many tens of thousands of small enterprises around Australia, including farms, are now set to have their bank overdraft agreements completely rewritten.
Following intervention by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the big four banks are taking action to protect small businesses from unfair terms in loan contracts.
Banks will funnel billions of dollars from a new deposit levy directly into government coffers and finance industry executives will be targeted by a stricter accountability regime in measures announced in Tuesday’s federal budget.
The new head of the Australian Bankers Association (ABA), former Queensland premier Anna Bligh, has taken a swipe at banks meddling with the corporate regulator's press releases about bank's bad behaviour.
