Resetting standards - now for the industry to deliver

Perspectives on the Financial Services Royal Commission Final Report

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Perspectives on the Financial Services Royal Commission Final Report

The Royal Commission has issued its Final Report comprising 76 recommendations. To date, most market commentators have been underwhelmed, observing that the Commission stopped short of explicitly making some of the most prescriptive recommendations some had expected.

However we believe the Report and the Commissioner’s approach to recommendations have significant merit. By focusing on the enforcement of existing law, articulation of clear principles and expectations of conduct, and lighting a fire under the regulators, the Commission sets a high bar around intent and customer outcomes. Rather than detailing everything to be done, this Report sets the standard of accountability and consequence (including for the supervisory regime), puts in place a number of carefully-chosen backstops, makes explicit prescriptions where warranted (such as in areas involving abuse or irreconcilable conflicts), then lays down the gauntlet for financial institutions and their regulators - to whom he assigns accountability to address identified issues and ensure the industry does not return to this point again.

When all is said and done, we expect this Report to catalyse changes to industry practice, culture and economics that may be as significant as any we have seen since the Wallis Report. It now falls to the industry to deliver.

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