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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2016/oct/04/commonwealth-bank-boss-appears-before-parliamentary-committee-live
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| Commonwealth Bank boss predicts more 'poor customer outcomes' – live | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 4.24am BST | |
| 04:24 | |
| The second question from chairman, David Coleman, is about financial advice. | |
| Ian Narev concedes: “We did not act with the requisite speed … on financial advice matters.” | |
| The Commonwealth Bank chief executive said the bank had already paid out $52m in the first round of remediation for poor financial advice, and has made a further $11m of payouts. | |
| 4.22am BST | |
| 04:22 | |
| The first question is about CommInsure. Narev said that after criticism of the definition of heart attacks being used to deny customers payouts, 17 customers received a payout using a fairer definition applied retrospectively. | |
| 4.18am BST | |
| 04:18 | |
| Narev predicts more cases of poor customer outcomes and compensation | |
| The only two witnesses at the committee table are Commonwealth Bank chief executive, Ian Narev, and chief risk officer, David Cohen. | |
| Ian Narev has delivered an opening statement that the bank comes to the hearings in the “spirit of openness”. | |
| The chief executive said that banking regulation is about balancing “strength and fairness”. “You cannot have a prosperous economy unless banks are strong,” he warned. | |
| Narev said banks have to balance the demands of borrowers and businesses who want cheap credit, depositors who want higher returns, and returns for shareholders. | |
| He foreshadows that the two main concerns of the committee will be bank profitability and “the unequal power between banks and their customers”. | |
| I have personally met with customers we have let down ... I have said before how sorry we are for the pain we’ve caused them, and I say so again today. | |
| Narev paints problems as arising from a combination of human error and defective processes and promises to make changes to the root causes of problems. | |
| As we do this work I expect there will be cases of more poor customer outcomes. And there will undoubtedly be more announcements of compensation due to customers, which will include some significant monetary amounts... | |
| Critics will paint these as signs of ongoing problems, actually they’re signs of how serious we are about fairness. | |
| 4.01am BST | |
| 04:01 | |
| The committee hearing has just kicked off, for those who’d like to watch along a live stream is available. Chairman David Coleman has just rattled off the committee’s terms of references and is just going through house rules now. | |
| Updated | |
| at 4.02am BST | |
| 3.56am BST | |
| 03:56 | |
| The director of policy and campaigns at the Consumer Action Law Centre, Denise Boyd, has told ABC24 the committee hearings are unlikely to make calls for a royal commission go away but “if the CEOs of the big banks … are being asked some searching questions about their policies and practices, within their businesses, that’s got to be a good thing for all Australians”. | |
| Boyd said she wants the committee to examine credit cards because half of the Consumer Action Law Centre’s clients face credit card debts of more than $10,000 | |
| There are really high interest rates that apply for those when interest rates in Australia are at record lows so we’d like to know how the banks justify charging those high rates. | |
| There is a duty of care. Everybody has got their own personal responsibility but for a bunch of reasons, people do fall into difficult circumstances and by the time they have racked up … more than $10,000 worth of debt, that is a long way back. | |
| 3.46am BST | 3.46am BST |
| 03:46 | 03:46 |
| Before the action kicks off at 2pm AEDT, you’ll want to know who is on the house committee on economics. It consists of six government MPs, three from Labor and Greens MP Adam Bandt. Its chair is the Liberal Party’s David Coleman, the deputy chair is Labor’s Matt Thistlethwaite. | Before the action kicks off at 2pm AEDT, you’ll want to know who is on the house committee on economics. It consists of six government MPs, three from Labor and Greens MP Adam Bandt. Its chair is the Liberal Party’s David Coleman, the deputy chair is Labor’s Matt Thistlethwaite. |
| One government MP on the committee, Craig Kelly, is an outspoken critic of excessive credit card late fees which he has labelled a “plain rip-off”. Kelly has also expressed support for a proposal put forward by MP Warren Entsch calling for bank victims to be compensated by a special tribunal rather than set up a royal commission that can’t grant compensation. | One government MP on the committee, Craig Kelly, is an outspoken critic of excessive credit card late fees which he has labelled a “plain rip-off”. Kelly has also expressed support for a proposal put forward by MP Warren Entsch calling for bank victims to be compensated by a special tribunal rather than set up a royal commission that can’t grant compensation. |
| The other MPs on the committee are: Liberals Julia Banks, Scott Buchholz and Trevor Evans; The Nationals’ Kevin Hogan; and Labor’s Pat Conroy and Matt Keogh. | The other MPs on the committee are: Liberals Julia Banks, Scott Buchholz and Trevor Evans; The Nationals’ Kevin Hogan; and Labor’s Pat Conroy and Matt Keogh. |
| I’ll bring you a list of Commonwealth Bank witnesses when we have it. | I’ll bring you a list of Commonwealth Bank witnesses when we have it. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 3.50am BST | at 3.50am BST |
| 3.32am BST | 3.32am BST |
| 03:32 | 03:32 |
| Hello and welcome to our live blog on the first day of parliamentary committee hearings into the big four banks. Tuesday’s hearing will focus on the Commonwealth Bank, followed by ANZ on Wednesday and then NAB and Westpac on Thursday. | Hello and welcome to our live blog on the first day of parliamentary committee hearings into the big four banks. Tuesday’s hearing will focus on the Commonwealth Bank, followed by ANZ on Wednesday and then NAB and Westpac on Thursday. |
| In August, Malcolm Turnbull announced the new review mechanism in response to Labor pressure for a royal commission into banks. The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics will hear from the big four at least once a year. | In August, Malcolm Turnbull announced the new review mechanism in response to Labor pressure for a royal commission into banks. The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics will hear from the big four at least once a year. |
| Its terms of reference include quizzing the banks on their decisions about whether to pass on interest rate cuts, as well as how they plan to enhance consumer protections. That will be where Labor wants the main action, as it’s a juicy opportunity to raise allegations of rate rigging and claims insurers systematically delayed payouts to sick and dying customers. | Its terms of reference include quizzing the banks on their decisions about whether to pass on interest rate cuts, as well as how they plan to enhance consumer protections. That will be where Labor wants the main action, as it’s a juicy opportunity to raise allegations of rate rigging and claims insurers systematically delayed payouts to sick and dying customers. |
| Opposition frontbencher Matt Thistlethwaite, deputy chair of the committee, has indicated he will ask about industry scandals, credit card interest rates and commissions that encourage staff to push customers into products that may not be right for them. | Opposition frontbencher Matt Thistlethwaite, deputy chair of the committee, has indicated he will ask about industry scandals, credit card interest rates and commissions that encourage staff to push customers into products that may not be right for them. |
| After calling for a bank royal commission in April, Labor has indicated it will continue to push for a fuller inquiry. The government points to the new accountability mechanism and powers for the Australian Securities and Investment Commission as sufficient to regulate the banks. | After calling for a bank royal commission in April, Labor has indicated it will continue to push for a fuller inquiry. The government points to the new accountability mechanism and powers for the Australian Securities and Investment Commission as sufficient to regulate the banks. |
| Let’s see whether Commonwealth Bank chief executive, Ian Narev, and other executives can convince the committee the industry is well-regulated or whether the hearings add to calls for a royal commission. | Let’s see whether Commonwealth Bank chief executive, Ian Narev, and other executives can convince the committee the industry is well-regulated or whether the hearings add to calls for a royal commission. |
| Comments for the live blog are open - so please contribute your take on proceedings below. You can contact me on Twitter @Paul_Karp. | Comments for the live blog are open - so please contribute your take on proceedings below. You can contact me on Twitter @Paul_Karp. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 3.51am BST | at 3.51am BST |