The Australian Banking Royal Commission’s interim report focused on a range of negative issues which seemingly stemmed from the vertical integration models within the banking and financial services sector.  It is likely that this will result in the unwinding of vertically integrated financial services groups leading to an entirely different landscape of Australian financial service providers from an ownership and commercial perspective. Numerous wrongdoings have been aired in the Commission which will result in material enforcement actions by ASIC (for which funding has already been provided).

A presentation on The Australian Banking Royal Commission and its likely fall out was delivered to the Australian Corporate Counsel Association by Baker McKenzie’s head of financial services in Australia, Bill Fuggle along with partner Antony Rumboll, special counsel Alan Darwin, senior associate Sibel Kaan and Shemira Jeevaratnam.

The presentation explored the considerations of ASIC and the Federal government moving forward in relation to charging fees, the products and services provided to retail clients, the drivers of behavior of various levels of employees within the sector and methods to moderate or remove negative behavior.

Please reach out to our Team if you would like to discuss the likely changes to occur in the regulatory environment as a result of the Commission’s findings, for example aggressive regulatory enforcement and further legislative and regulatory reform.

Author

Bill Fuggle is a partner in the Sydney office of Baker McKenzie where he is a leading adviser in financial services, capital markets and funds management transactions. Bill has been instrumental in drafting innovative structured products in Australia and has been engaged in key advisory roles in significant transactions in the Australian and Asian market.

Author

Antony Rumboll is a partner in the Sydney office of Baker McKenzie. Antony advises on capital markets and public M&A transactions and has a distinguished 15 year legal career in both private practice and as an in-house lawyer.

Alan Darwin
Author

Alan is a special counsel in Baker McKenzie's Financial Services & Funds team in Sydney. He advises corporates, investment banks, financial product platform providers, superannuation trustees, responsible entities, investment managers, financial advisers, brokers and intermediaries on a range of areas relating to financial services, financial products, financial markets and related regulatory issues.

Sibel Kaan
Author

Sibel is a senior associate in Baker McKenzie's Financial Services & Funds team in Sydney.She advises corporates, investment banks, fund managers, investment advisers, brokers/dealers, fintech firms, market participants and exchanges on a range of areas relating to financial services, financial products, anti-money laundering, financial markets and related regulatory issues.

Author

Shemira’s experience spans working with neobanks, payment system providers, blockchain-based platforms and clients in the digital asset space, as well as multinational technology companies and institutional financial services businesses. She assists clients on Australian financial services regulatory matters, including in relation to Australian financial services licenses, Australian credit licenses, and banking licenses. Shemira also works on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) matters, including in relation to digital currency exchange providers.