ROYAL COMMISSION TIMELINE

Date Event
30 November 2017 Royal Commission announced – see Media Release – Prime Minister – 30 November 2017 – Royal Commission into Banks and Financial Services and Media Release – Treasurer – 30 November 2017 – Royal Commission into Banks and Financial Services
14 December 2017 Terms of Reference finalised –  Letters Patent [PDF 257KB]
14 December 2017 Commissioner appointed –  the Honourable Kenneth Madison Hayne AC QC. He was a Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1997 to 2015.
January 2018 Letters issued by RC to financial services entities seeking voluntary response to questions in January 2018 – currently only issued to some insurers. Not aware of any insurance brokers. Insurance brokers caught indirectly if acting on behalf of insurers that received letter as insurers have been asked to respond on own behalf and in relation to persons acting on behalf of them. The information requested is from 1 January 2008.
22 January 2018 Public submissions sought – from any individual or entity (including whistle-blowers) wishing to tell the Commission about misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation or Financial Services Industry.  The online form for submissions is now available on the Royal Commission website https://financialservices.royalcommission.gov.au. As stated in the initial public hearing (12 February 2018):

·         84% of submissions relate to misconduct or conduct of financial services entities that falls below community standards and expectations;

·         40% relate to culture and governance practices of financial services entities; and

·         35% relate to the effectiveness of redress for consumers.

The following themes have emerged from the submissions received at the time of the initial public hearing:

·         financial services entities acting on falsified documents;

·         the provisions of inappropriate financial advice;

·         inappropriate lending;

·         delay in processing insurance claims;

·         culture and governance practices – particularly the issue of conflicts of interest in connection with the practices of financial services entity representatives;

o    incentive based remuneration;

o    commissions payable to a financial advisor by a financial institution for referring its products to the consumer; and

·         the effectiveness of redress for consumers.
22 January 2018 Practice Guideline 1 issued – Procedures establishing the conduct of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry
29 January 2018 Practice Guideline 2 issued – Procedure for making a claim of legal professional privilege.
9 February 2018 Practice Guideline 3 issued – Leave to appear and witnesses.
12 February 2018 Initial public hearing – At this hearing the Commissioner and Senior Counsel Assisting will make short opening statements. No witnesses will be called.  It will occur in Melbourne at 10am on Monday.  It will be streamlined live through the Royal Commission’s website and a transcript will be available on this site shortly after the hearing. No applications for leave to appear will be heard or determined at the initial public hearing. The RC proposes to issue a further Practice Guideline in relation to leave to appear. Media Guidelines for public hearings will be published on the Royal Commission’s website. The transcript of this hearing has been released.
13 March 2018 – 23 March 2018 First round of public hearings – The first round of public hearings have been announced and will focus on consumer lending practices within the context of credit products such as home loans, car loans and credit cards. Information on applications for leave to appear has been published. Of relevance to insurance is the confirmed topic of Add-On Insurance Products, which uses the case study of CBA credit insurance in connection with home loans, personal loans and credit cards. Further topics may be included, and the Round 1 Hearing list of topics will be updated accordingly before the hearings commence.

 
TBA Commission determines its program of public hearings – this will be published on its website and in the media. The public hearings will be streamed live through the Royal Commission’s website. Transcripts of any public hearing will be placed as soon as possible after it becomes available, subject to any order of the Royal Commission to the contrary.
Subpoenas issued re witness hearings and documentation provision under Royal Commissions Act 1902
Witness hearings scheduled
Closing arguments and submissions
interim report no later than 30 September 2018
Final report by 1 February 2019
Government response to Commissioner report TBA.

 

 

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