Banking chiefs given directive to change their ways

Bill Shorten says Australians will believe there is a “cover up” if no bankers go to jail because of the behaviour exposed in the Hayne royal commission.

Commissioner Kenneth Hayne and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg (right) are seen with the final report from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, at Parliament House in Canberra, Friday, February 1, 2019. (AAP Image/Fairfax Media Pool, Kym Smith)

Bill Shorten says Australians will believe there is a “cover up” if no bankers go to jail because of the behaviour exposed in the Hayne royal commission.

The Opposition Leader said more needed to happen than senior banking executives quitting.

“If no one out of the banks goes to jail, if no one gets prosecuted or charged I think Australians would see there has been a cover up. We want to make sure that the parliament does its bit to restore faith in the banking sector,” Mr Shorten said.

He said the government had not got the message about the banks because it won’t schedule extra sitting weeks in parliament.

“The government won’t even let the parliament sit for an extra two weeks before the election because they don’t want to talk about the banking royal commission, it seems like they haven’t got the message at all,” Mr Shorten said.

“I don’t know what every bank has done but I think Australians expect there to be real accountability. I think there was a little sigh of disappointment after the Hayne royal commission hit the deck, that the next day the banks were all hunkering down saying ‘nothing to see hear move along please’.

“The government was saying ‘we will do a go slow we don’t need parliament to sit’. Why is it the Liberal Party and the banks somehow seem to think community attitudes don’t apply to them.”

‘This misconduct must stop’

Josh Frydenberg says “time will tell” if more bank executives will fall on their swords because of the banking royal commission as he issued a directive that senior industry figures must change their ways.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, meanwhile, said banks need to consider the royal commission recommendations in altering their practices and personnel after NAB chairman Ken Henry and chief executive Andrew Thorburn resigned amid stinging rebukes from Kenneth Hayne.

“It is not up to the government to determine who should chair or be the CEO of individual companies but given the assessments and the findings made by the royal commission, of course everyone needs to consider what the implications are for them in a policy sense, in terms of the practices moving forward and in terms of personnel,” Senator Cormann told Sky News.

“It was always going to be the case that once the banking royal commission released its report that across the financial services sector, and indeed across public policy, that all of us have the responsibility to consider the findings, consider the recommendations and determine the best way forward.

“In relation to NAB that included some decisions in relation to personnel, that is a matter for them. We note that and we respect their decision and obviously that is the conclusion they reached based on the royal commission.”

The Treasurer would not say which other executives should consider their positions but issued a broad directive that the industry leaders must change their ways.

“I’m not going to specify individuals or companies other than to make the broadest possible point which is the misconduct must stop,” Mr Frydenberg told ABC radio.

“The reports that we saw through the royal commission of fees for no service, fees charged to dead people and the mis-selling of insurance, was absolutely terrible and has had a profound impact on the community.

“Ultimately, and Kenneth Hayne made this point, the responsibility for this conduct falls at the feet of those senior executives and those board members in those companies.”

Mr Frydenberg accused Labor of engaging in a “stunt” for demanding parliament sit for two weeks in March to take legislative action on some of the royal commission recommendations.

“There are 76 recommendations. 40 of those recommendations will require legislations. We need to consult, obviously, with key stakeholders and we need to draft that legislation,” he said.

“One of the key points that Kenneth Hayne made in his report is that the law is too complex. We don’t want to compound that process by rushing this process.”

He also said Labor was playing political games for questioning whether contents of the royal commission were leaked, given traders plunged about $500 million into bank stocks at 11am Monday.

“They set this up before we even received the report. They were talking about AFP investigations if there was a leak. That is a matter for ASIC and they will be the judge but Labor has form on this,” he said.