Banking royal commission inundated by public submissions

THE royal commission into ­bad bank behaviour has been inundated with submissions from the public, with the number now approaching 2000.

THE royal commission into ­misconduct among banks and other finance companies has been swamped with almost 2000 public submissions.

Among the allegations in the submissions, consumers have accused mortgage brokers and lenders of falsifying documents so they could offer bigger loans.

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Senior counsel assisting the commission Rowena Orr QC said today that the number of submissions had quadrupled since the first hearing a month ago.

Ms Orr said 806 of the 1894 received as of Friday focused on issues of “misconduct” or “conduct falling below community standards” in the consumer lending space, covering products such as mortgages, personal loans and car loans.

The big four banks will all be under scrutiny during the commission process.

“Some customers have expressed concerns over entities and brokers falsifying documents to obscure circumstances of the consumer to get a larger loan,” Ms Orr said.

Of the total submissions, 28 per cent are from New South Wales, 25 per cent from Victoria and 22 per cent from Queensland.

Ms Orr was speaking at a commission hearing today — the first public hearing.

Former High Court judge Kenneth Hayne, the commissioner, is being assisted by Ms Orr and commercial barrister Albert Dinelli.

In its first day of hearings on February 12, Ms Orr unveiled a hit list of issues that included fairness in lending around mortgages, car loans and credit cards.

Senior counsel assisting the commission Rowena Orr QC.

At the time, she said the commission had already accumulated evidence that suggested “consumers have not always enjoyed the right to be treated honestly and fairly when it comes to home loans”.

“Some of these events may have involved breaches of the law, while others may have involved departures from community standards and expectations,” Ms Orr said.

The commission last month turned a blowtorch on the banks for dragging their feet in preparing detailed lists of misconduct going back half a decade.

Late last year, Mr Hayne told the banks to ­assemble extensive lists detailing cases of potential misconduct going back 10 years, along with cases of conduct the banks believed had not met community standards and expectations.

Commissioner Kenneth Hayne.

They were instructed to submit the lists by January 29.

The commission was called by the federal government in November after a ­series of scandals in the sector.

It is due to give a final report to the government by next February 1.

The public can make a submission at this link: royal commission submissions.