The Royal Commission's Effects on the Financial Sector: An Analysis

This report examines the effects of the Royal Commission, particularly its impact on the Commonwealth Bank and the broader Australian financial sector. It discusses the context leading up to the commission, including allegations of misconduct, money laundering, and financial planning scandals. The analysis covers key impacts such as potential interest rate increases, taxpayer funding concerns, and the role of the commission in uncovering hidden facts about corruption and misconduct within the financial services sector. The report also highlights the commission's structure, led by former High Court judge Kenneth Hayne, and its limited power to only make suggestions to the government. The report references various sources to support its claims and provides a comprehensive overview of the commission's implications for the financial industry and the public.

Running head: EFFECTS OF THE ROYAL COMISSION
EFFECTS OF THE ROYAL COMISSION
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1EFFECTS OF THE ROYAL COMISSION
The Australian: The decision of the Federal Government’s announcement just before the
Christmas break can have longing impacts at an all engulfing level that may not yet be
apparently clear to everyone right now. The Commonwealth Bank is going to undergo a
complete clean-out of its board and management.
Many think that this would mean that the entire financial structure would be changed in
the country and the financial institution’s role is going to be drastically and irrevocably altered.
While there are others who maintain that this announcement is simply a subjective investigation
on whether human involvement can be replaced by the new technology. The Commonwealth
Bank has been facing allegations, for a long time, of being largely ignorant about money
laundering of the drug syndicates, being oblivious to terrorism financing and being irresponsible
for more than three years for almost a million bank accounts. Failure of such magnitude can be
significantly negatively impacting to, and undermine, the national security of the country. The
situation has become so bad that some people have suggested that the banks should hold giving
bonuses to the executives so that every entity including the community, and those who are at the
authoritative positions are delivered a strong message.
The call for a royal commission to the banking sector has its seeds sowed at least three
years back, when a senate committee suggested that the Commonwealth Bank should be given a
royal commission for the financial planning scandal. The Labour party for more than a year that
such a commission would be facilitating in making the sector stronger than before. After the
investigations of the Commonwealth Bank financial planning scandal being done through the
senate inquiry, National senators have vigorously advocated and called for a banking royal
commission.

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A draft for a commission of enquiry was made and even some of the lower house
members gave their support for the same. Just as the bill was to be introduced to in the Senate,
the Prime Minister announced the royal commission. One of the most significant and major
effects of the royal commission is the fact that interest rates are going to shoot upwards, which
means that the citizens of the country are going to be the real sufferers from this decision. Others
have dismissed the step by saying that the commission would not be doing anything rather than
simply digging up the things that have already happened. But that being the exact and entire
point of an enquiry in the first place, these opinions do not hold any grounds.
Politicians have argued that the royal commission is, in essence, an elaborate cover up
that the government is using to keep a lot of financial scandals hidden from the public eye. If this
is indeed the case, then there are a lot of serious concerning issues. The bank has been
continuously losing its credibility and reliability to the masses since it is a sector that sees its
leaders being given tremendous salaries and paying itself with bonuses, but as soon as the
situation gets a little bad, they demand taxpayer protection.
The Financial Review: Jeff Morris can finally breathe a sigh of relief as the Federal Government
announces the Royal Commission on the Commonwealth Bank. Being the first whistle blower to
the corruptions of the bank, Morris ultimately has the satisfaction in seeing the government
actually taking formidable steps towards trying to make the financial scandal being scrutinised
and justifications be made. He now says that, despite met with severe hostilities and threats
against his life, as well as losing his job, he still feels that is he has actually achieved something
after all.

3EFFECTS OF THE ROYAL COMISSION
Royal commission simply refers to any form of public inquiry that is validated by a
parliament act. In effect, royal commissions are governed by acts that are passed through the
legislature system and depending on the severity of the event that is being investigated, the
commission is also to be debated over on many occasions before actually being put into effect.
The financial commission that has been sanctioned by the Federal Government will be looking
into the financial planning scandal. Since a commission has the authority to look into any fact in
order to uphold the peace and order of the Commonwealth, this is considered to be uncovering a
lot of hidden facts and issues that were previously duped by the government and not brought
forth to the public.
The current commission will be investigating the allegations of corruption and
misconduct in the sector of financial services sector. Hence, it can be understood that the facts
behind banks spending people’s retirement savings excessively or giving out dubious financial
advices would finally be looked into and the different corruption practices that were in play
would be revealed properly. The Commonwealth Bank has failed to uphold the community
standards and serve accordingly, which the commission is going to be discussing and
investigations of the corruption is sure to be uncovering a lot of truths.
However, the problem with this may be the fact that the taxpayers would have to be
suffering ultimately once again. Since the commission is being funded by the government, it
means that taxpayers are the ones who are going to be financing it. This may throttle the interest
rates of the banks to get higher, so this means that more burden on the taxpayers, the citizens of
the country, once again. The amount that is needed for this is not quite small either: $75 million
to be raised from simply taxes is not a mere task. The commission would not be having any

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executing powers vested upon itself: it can rather only make suggestions to the government,
which is entirely upon them to take or reject.
The royal commission is to be headed by former High Court judge Kenneth Hayne. The
rest of the panel which is going to be in the investigation committee are all previously public
servants and this gives them excellent knowledge on how to properly do the investigation so that
the public can be the most benefited.

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Bibliography
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Ferguson, A., & Butler, B. (2014). Commonwealth Bank facing royal commission call after
Senate financial planning inquiry. Banking and Finance’, The Sydney Morning Herald,
Business Day ed., published by Fairfax Media, Sydney, NSW, 26.
Matthews, A. (2016). The financial services industry: Whistleblowing and calls for a royal
commission. Precedent (Sydney, NSW), (136), 35.
McIlroy, J. (2017). Bank inquiry aimed at heading off royal commission. Green Left Weekly,
(1151), 2.
McIlroy, J. (2017). Bank royal commission: Is this the last straw for Turnbull?. Green Left
Weekly, (1164), 4.