The Royal Commission into misconduct in the banking and financial services industry in Australia will hold its initial public hearing next month.
The Royal Commission into alleged misconduct in Australia’s banking, superannuation and financial services industry is about to commence two months after its draft terms were announced by the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
The first hearing will take place on February 12, 2018 in Melbourne and will be open to the public. At this hearing, the commissioner and senior counsel assisting will make short opening statements, however, no witnesses will be called.
Expensive Interference
Although the commission, led by Kenneth Hayne, is inviting submissions from any individual or entity wishing to tell it about misconduct in the relevant industries, it has emphasized that it cannot resolve individual disputes, fix or award compensation. However the financial regulators will be watching proceedings closely.
While the CEO's and chairs of the largest banking groups have accepted the Royal Commission will go ahead they believe the exercise will be a costly and unnecessary distraction at a time when the finance sector faces significant challenges and disruption from technology and growing global macroeconomic uncertainty.
