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After over 6,500 submissions, the much anticipated Financial System Inquiry (FSI) report was released last Sunday, yielding 44 recommendations to improve the financial system in Australia and a blueprint to guide policy over the next 10 to 20 years.
Speaking at the Centre for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) this Monday, Mr David Murray AO, Chairman of the FSI committee said there had been two major paradigm shifts since the Wallace Inquiry: external shocks, such as the GFC, and the incomplete nature of the debate around effective disclosure and financial literacy.
While not exhaustive, the following summarises these two points and includes some industry views on these and other key areas of interest that were discussed at the CEDA lunch.
The GFC
Australians perceive that it is the Government’s job to bail them out and support banks in a financial crisis. This is an incomplete answer, but it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The Basel Committee has estimated the average total cost of a financial crisis annually at around 63 per cent of a country’s annual GDP.
In Australia, it would cost $950 billion, with 900,000 additional Australians out of work.
Unfortunately Australia doesn’t have the budget surplus or triple A credit rating it had at the time, meaning foreign investment should be top of mind to support a strong banking system.
Tony Boyd at AFR suggests the report subtly blames the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) for not protecting the country’s taxpayers against a financial shock affecting the banking system and for not encouraging competition.
Disclosure and financial literacy
Firms have to take responsibility for treating consumers fairly. Disclosure and financial literacy are not enough, and a pro-active regulator is needed, according to the FSI report. Murray likened the need for financial disclosure to other industries like manufacturing where there are requirements that products are suitable for consumers.
Dante De Gori, GM for Policy at The Financial Planning Association (FPA) told Business Insider Australia the FPA agreed with the recommendation to strengthen product issuer and distributor accountability and the introduction of product intervention powers.
Other big issues:
Superannuation was another big issue addressed by the report. Considering our aging population it is paramount we get that part right. MySuper has been positioned as a potential solution to be reviewed in 2020. When fully implemented it has the potential to increase retirement incomes for an average male wage earner by around 25 to 40 per cent, excluding the Age Pension.
The largest number of submissions were with regards to card transactions, with subsequent recommendations that the RBA ban surcharging for low cost cards and cap surcharges in relation to credit cards. Choice, who were amongst the crowd on the day, were happy with the consumer protection recommendations, aside from the resolution of card surcharges, saying that ‘the problem is no-one has the role or power to enforce it’.
Next steps?
Implementation! We’re going to have to wait to see which recommendations are actually adopted by the industry. Interestingly the banks share prices rallied the day of the announcement, so perhaps the recommendations aren’t tough enough to affect shareholders.
