2017-08-04
Greens Treasury Spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, says that Commbank money laundering scandal shows that the culture in the financial services sector is still suspect and only a Royal Commission or a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry will return public confidence in this critical sector.
Senator Whish-Wilson said, “The behaviour of Commbank that emerged during the Senate Inquiry into ASIC was what sparked the first call for a Royal Commission. I am sick of being told by overpaid executives that everything is ok in this sector, when it is clearly not.
“The only way to fix this mess is to have a Royal Commission or a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry to call them to account.
“If this was a trade union involved in facilitating criminal cartels in the way it has been put Commbank have, can you imagine the way that the Liberal Government would be responding?
“What is so shocking about these latest claims is the sheer disregard that the bank has shown to requests for action by the regulator. A clear part of the cultural problem in the financial services sector is that regulators and requests from regulators are treated with disdain.
“We need to have a conversation in this country about how corporate executives are constantly dodging responsibility for the actions of their firms. This investigation needs to go right up to the top.
“I am calling on the board of Commbank to scrap any bonus payments they were considering giving to the CEO and senior executives. The public will never forgive an organisation that pays millions in bonuses to people who couldn’t even ensure that their company could obey laws put in place to stop organised crime,” he concluded.
Media Release Treasury