Is Bank Bashing Justified? Of Course It Is! Are there any institutions more hated than banks?
Right now, the answer is "no". Financial institutions, and banks in particular, have probably never enjoyed broad popular support. But at the moment they're more on the nose than ever. Not only have the big four raised their variable mortgage rates, despite the Reserve Bank holding the national reference rate steady, but ANZ has also announced it will retrench 1000 workers as part of a cost-cutting drive. Predictably, the response by politicians and many in the community has been furious. So are banks merely responding to rising funding costs? It's a little of column A, a little column B. Let's start with the public's grievances. For most citizens, the key issue with their bank is the size of their mortgage repayment every month. But interest rate margins are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to public dissatisfaction with the financial sector.
So you can see why ordinary citizens are hostile to bankers. TAI Banks. Spin and anger aside, facts you can bank on - The Drum Opinion - The public may bash, the Government may spin and the banks may raise rates. But the facts are these. Find More Stories Spin and anger aside, facts you can bank on Greg Jericho Does anything unite the nation quite like hating banks? In the week since the Reserve Bank kept the cash rate steady at 4.25 per cent, the Commonwealth, Westpac, ANZ and National Australia Bank have lifted their mortgage rates - Westpac and CBA by 0.10 per cent, NAB by 0.09 per cent and the ANZ by 0.06 per cent. To top it off, on Monday ANZ announces it is sacking 1,000 workers and more could go in the next two years. "Bastards," says we all. "Rising funding costs," says the banks.
OK. Joe Hockey would have you believe that it is Wayne Swan's fault - after all he should be able to get on the phone and tell the banks what to do - just like he would have you believe Peter Costello did. Don't be fooled by that. Fortunately for us, the RBA provides a lot of information on banking costs, on its Statistical Tables page .
The RBA also has a few graphs to show the change in cost of this long-term debt. Record. Email Share x Digg Kwoff. Financial Services Authority chairman backs tax on 'socially useless' banks. The government's top financial regulator last night backed radical plans for a multibillion-pound tax on banks as a way to tackle the City's persistent bonus culture.
Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, warned bankers that he would support a new wave of taxes on the City to prevent excessive profiteering if they continue to take excessive risks. In a searing critique of the industry, Lord Turner described much of the City's activities as "socially useless" and questioned whether it has grown too large. His comments, in an interview published by current affairs magazine Prospect, mark a shift in the debate on bonuses, which Turner characterised as a symptom rather than a cause of the financial crisis.
The idea was recently put forward by anti-poverty campaigners who have argued that a small levy applied to each transaction would mean billions of pounds could be redirected to support developing nations. Mansion House speech. 22 Sep 2009 Speech by Adair Turner, Chairman, FSAThe City Banquet, The Mansion House, London My Lord Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen, It’s a year and four days since Callum McCarthy spoke here on his second last day as Chairman of the FSA.
I know he always received a warm welcome here and I am grateful, Lord Mayor, for your kind words, given that I now seem to be regarded as somewhat of a heretic in certain quarters of the City. Heretics used to be burned at Smithfield, not far from here, so perhaps I should have been worried coming here. To say a lot has changed in the year since Callum stood before you is inadequate. Today the world looks much less scary than it did then. The banking system is stable. Back to top But even if that is the case – even indeed if the path of growth, unemployment and housing prices turns out to be better than current expectation – we must not forget what occurred last autumn. We need radical change. At_cass_slides_170310.pdf (application/pdf Object) At_17mar10.pdf (application/pdf Object) What do banks do, what should they do and what public policies are needed to ensure best results for the real economy?