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CBA boss Matt Comyn: ‘Working together delivers big wins’

Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn says a common economic purpose can deliver significant gains.

CBA chief executive Matt Comyn. Picture: Adam Yip
CBA chief executive Matt Comyn. Picture: Adam Yip
The Australian Business Network

Australian Banking Association chairman Matt Comyn has promised significant economic gains if the nation’s banks can continue to work with the government and industry “at speed and with common purpose”.

Ahead of an ABA council dinner in Canberra with Josh Frydenberg, Mr Comyn said the focus should be on the most important things to ensure a rapid economic turnaround.

“COVID-19 showed how quickly the world can change and just as we felt the negative effects, we shouldn’t ignore the opportunities that are emerging in key sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing, energy, agriculture, tourism, education and transport,” the Commonwealth Bank chief executive said.

“Australia’s banks have a vital role to play in funding the major investments required to keep us at the forefront of these developments. The last 12 months have shown how banks, large and small, can work with government and industry, at speed and with common purpose, to support the nation and help Australians.

“We can build on that teamwork to continue to deliver significant economic gains, such as new jobs, new companies and new industries.”

Mr Frydenberg was the dinner guest of the council, which includes 15 bank chief executives and ABA chief executive Anna Bligh.

Opposition Treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers attended an earlier lunch.

While the overriding theme was recovery from COVID-19, the CEOs were also updated about the security environment.

Among the speakers were Austrac chief executive Nicole Rose, who extracted a $1.3 billion fine from Westpac last year for systemic breaches of anti-money laundering legislation, and the director-general of the Australian Office of National Intelligence, Andrew Shearer.

Director-General of Security Mike Burgess, who leads the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, addressed the group on cybersecurity.

The bank CEOs are preparing for some inevitable fallout from the withdrawal of the $90bn JobKeeper program at the end of this month.

The program is currently supporting about 1.3m jobs, with predictions of job losses ranging from 100,000 to 250,000.

The fallout, however, is expected to be minimised by the introduction of assistance to hard-hit sectors such as tourism and education.

Meanwhile, the banks have again come under fire over a lack of access to finance for small businesses.

New small business ombudsman Bruce Billson said he backed RBA assistant governor Chris Kent’s comment that the issue had been a longstanding challenge, with finance tighter than before the pandemic.

“I support Mr Kent’s plea to banks to take a different approach to small business borrowers, given that even under the existing Responsible Lending Laws, banks are not obliged to apply the same serviceability requirements to small businesses that need to be applied to households,” Mr Billson said.

“I also share Mr Kent’s concerns regarding the banks’ lengthy and onerous process to securing finance, including substantial collateral requirements.

“Of course we need to strike the right balance, but any move to loosen onerous restrictions on access to finance for small business would be positive.”

Read related topics:Commonwealth Bank Of Australia

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/financial-services/cba-boss-matt-comyn-working-together-delivers-big-wins/news-story/c1bf6601afafc73525465439be8441fc