News
Reserve Bank of New Zealand keeps interest rates unchanged, building approvals rise, ASX closes lower after mixed Wall Street results — as it happened
The Banking Code Compliance Committee (BCCC) is a body funded and controlled by the banking industry that oversees compliance with the industry-created Code of Practice.
The industry insists the code has the “weight of law” because it is approved by a regulator (ASIC), written into contracts and then overseen by the BCCC.
Not many people look at this aspect of regulation because, as you can tell from the many caveats above, it’s hard to take it very seriously.
It’s not that BCCC isn’t trying hard or doesn’t have a team of serious and competent people doing their best for bank customers.
It turns out the body has to beg for powers from the industry’s peak body, run by the members it is supposed to oversee – and has been rebuffed when it asked for more power.
It is fascinating to see that twice in less than a month the BCCC has used the most substantial sanction it has ever had… in fact, naming the bank that did the wrong thing.
ANZ was sanctioned for failing to stop or refund estate fees, as well as failing to respond to estate representatives within the required time frame.
Despite first identifying the issues in early 2022, it took ANZ more than a year to implement solutions and then almost two years to start paying customers, something it only expects to complete this month.
(This happened last week when I was on leave.)
BCCC Chairman Ian Govey AM highlighted the gravity of the breaches.
“The decision to charge ANZ for its non-compliance reflects the seriousness of its breaches of the Code… Naming a bank is a sanction we reserve for the most serious and systemic violations.
“The significance of the deficiencies in ANZ’s compliance frameworks was deeply concerning. Its non-compliance warranted such a sanction.”
It all seems very difficult.
The hilarious situation becomes clear when you follow the link.
ANOTHER bank did exactly the same things as ANZ. Who are they? You’ll never know.
Welcome to self-regulation.