The Australian Royal commission was initially launched at a federal level under the royal commission’s Act in 1902 (Hutchens, 2018). The commission is mandated to investigate misconduct by the Australian bank and other financial services entities. In case of any criminal acts from their investigations, the commission is required to approve legal proceedings to the tribunal for disciplinary. According to Hutchens, (2018) the commission is a public inquiry just like in the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand formed to look into fishy financial issues which are considered of public importance (Hutchens, 2018). In this analysis, we are going to discuss the recent 2018 Australian royal commission against the misconduct of the financial sector. According to Braddon & Hooper, 2018) through the existence of the commission, the general public is able to understand the misconduct in the banking industries and the efficiency of the sector in the Australian market. Further, the commission is fully mandated to investigate on banks financial cruel behaviors that appear to contravene with the banking regulations (Hutchens, 2018).
Part A.
According to Gericke, (2018) corporate governance in the public institutions is the processes by which the corporations are controlled with a clear distribution of duties among the different corporate participants. In the corporate governances the organization’s objectives are well pursued in a regulatory, social and good environmental context (Gericke, 2018). Corporates governance involves balancing the too many organization’s shareholders/stakeholders, management and community interests. Further, good corporate governance is an ideal section of any business not only in the financial services sector. The ability of the corporations to manage risks ultimately follows the st century board of directors are responsible for the appropriate governance of the organizations they are overseeing. Corporate practices set by corporate governance’s participant such as auditors, directors, and regulators. In a corporate governance, the risk appetite and organizations culture will determine how such organizations will respond to the rules and regulations set by the regulator such as the Australian royal commission (Gericke, 2018)
Corporate governance ensures a positive impact on the company’s share price.
Corporate governance lowers the cost of capital of the organization.
In an environment with strong corporate governance, they are improved shareholders confidence.
Corporate governance ensures overall economic growth.
Improved corporate governance brings the organizations success
In Gericke, (2018) the success of the business depends on the intake of overall corporate governance, weak corporate governance, especially in the financial sector, can result in failure of risk management tactics which eventually can affect the entire financial system in the economy. In case for instance the Australian financial institution boards of management lacks the well understanding of the broader risks faced by the financial market in a current year, though an absence of the robust corporate governances frameworks, a severe financial breakdown can be caused which can even affect the share value of the institution in the market (Gericke, 2018).
The objectives of corporate governance.
Corporate governance ensures the shareholder’s wealth is increased.
Through corporate governance, the institution is able to lay down good transparency.
Through corporate governance, they are clear accountability in the firm.
An organization is able to do self-evolution through comparison in corporate governance.
Through corporate governance, firms are able to offer full disclosure.
It’s only through corporate governance equitable treatment of shareholders is embraced (Meredith “et al” 2012).
The overall purpose of the Royal Commission.
Overall investigation of banks. The royal commission is mandated to investigate the Australian banks on alleged misconduct. According to the Hutchens, (2018) two Australian bank’s that is AMP and Commonwealth were investigated for client’s related offenses. The Commonwealth bank management openly admitted to having been charging fees to clients’ accounts who have already died. On the other hand, the AMP bank admitted to having been lying the regulator on its findings (Hutchens, 2018).
The commission is also mandated to investigate on banks financial behaviors that appear to contravene with the banking regulations. Such behaviors include failure by the banking lenders to verify customers living expenses before disbursing loans unto them. Bribery allegations by the banking sector have also been a major issue since the inception of the royal commission. In this cases, the Royal Commission is directed to fine where appropriate and compensate the victims (Chau & Clark, 2018).
Reasons why the Royal Commission was called into the banking sector.
According to Hutchens, (2018) the big four banks in Australia has embarked in selling financial advice to clients contrarily to the baking regulations. In the reports, banks were found to have adopted the vertical integration model of doing business where the banks were profiting from charging their own financial advice. Through the existence of the commission, the general public is able to understand the misconduct of the banking, financial services and superannuation industries and the efficiency of the sector in the Australian financial systems (Hutchens, 2018).
Was there resistance to the Royal Commission?
According to Hutchens, (2018) the royal commission was embraced wholly especially by the national leaders such as the national finance minister Mathias Cormann who was much concerned on the little time the commission was given to unearth the wrongdoers in the financial sector. Hutchens, (2018) states that the Australian national leader Barnaby Joyce sort for forgiveness for he was initially against the commission. In conclusion, the national government credited the royal commission by offering a redress by referring to the less robust terms of reference just to pardon the wrongdoers (Hutchens, 2018).
Although the establishment of the royal commission was successful, it has faced years of cruel opposition from politicians from the government side who felt the commission was unnecessary to the growth of the industry (Hutchens, 2018).
Part B.
Interim finding, revelations, conflicts of interests and corporate culture.
According to Peters & Handschin, (2012) conflict of interest has for decades emerged in the implementation of policies and practice. Conflict is an inevitable part of the change process which accelerates and enhance success through the speed bumps encountered which usually gives the participants parties the chance to go into the drawing boards and relook on the initial goal of achievement. In this case, delve into differentiated issues concludes into the formation of deep cultural roots which oversee the success of the project (Peters & Handschin, 2012).
Through the various Royal commission held, different findings and revelations in the financial sector have been found which has resulted in drastic changes in the corporate governance of those banks. According to Hutchens, (2018), in the 2017 royal commission, the Commonwealth Bank, a listed company in the ASX and the largest in the Australian market was found culpable for using its financial planners to charge fees in dead clients’ accounts which eventually was included in its $ 9.8 billion full-year profit. Further, in the finding, the bank was also reported to have faulted the money laundering and counter-terrorism laws where the bank had failed to account for over $ 77 million suspicious transactions found to have been deposited through the ATMs (Hutchens, 2018).
In Hutchens, (2018), the AMP, BT financial, Westpac bank, National Australia Bank and ANZ bank were also mentioned in the royal commission reports to have faulted the regulator’s regulations. Banks such as AMP admitted to having lied the regulator where its chief executive officer was found to have dishonored the corporate governance of the institution and was forced to step down. Considering the largest deposit-taking institution in Australia were suspended by the commission, the need to prevent the cultural values of the Australian banks and honesty necessitated the though scrutiny to converse the economy. The seven largest deposit-taking institutions controlled two and half times the Australian gross domestic product (GDP) economy and therefore the quick interest to intervene and manage it.
The royal commission as for years faced opposition from several leaders who may have affiliated with the banking sector and would not wish the evils deeds of the banks are realized. According to Hutchens, (2018), Politicians in the Labor, the Liberals, and the Nationals have been opposing the Greens proposal to constitute the royal commission as at 2018 (Hutchens, 2018).
In Miller, (2014) the organization’s ability to compete, innovate and engage is hindered by many factors among them been corporate culture. In his book, Miller, (2014) defines corporate culture as the amalgamations of day to day aspects of communication and operational goals that form the way people work. Corporate culture drives the organizations and any serious corporate leader is ever thinking on how to create the most effective organizational culture that will make a difference in employee’s development, overall performance in a fostering environment. For culture is all about personality and character, the corporates culture becomes effective if it’s applied originally as reflected in the mission statements. This makes the organizations unique and well understanding of the vision and mission components such as traditions, beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and values towards their daily activity.
According to Morgan, (2015), a culture to a certain employee can mean to the vibe/feeling they get when they get into that office door. While corporate culture may have different preferences for different employees, the results and satisfaction also differ among the different organizations. In the banking sector, most employees perceive for a high pay as they are dealing with money. This culture is different when the level of employee rises up as employees at the managerial level will be most concerned on reducing salaries expenses a reporting more profits to the shareholders. Eventually, Abraham Maslow’s theories of satisfaction apply here, where the need level moves to the next empty place after satisficing the earlier.
Through our review for the recent royal commission release, almost all the large financial institution has been earmarked for investigation due to corrupt related charges. Anthony Regan, the AMP executive openly admitted to having severally lied to the regulator despite him being the head of one of the largest bank in Australia. The fact he lied has destroyed the reputation of the bank and, the fact he has lied severally appears to be the culture of AMP bank. In this government, through the treasurer, Scott Morrison recommended for the jailing of the wrongdoers to completely stop this corrupted activities (Hutchens, 2018).
Part C Rewards/punishments, recommendations
In Nuttin & Greenwald, (2014) when a person has done something outrageous are honored with a reward but when have done against the morals expectations, the rewards are punishments. In the royal commission past interim and past final reports, we find many financial institutions have flaunted the set banking regulation and government’s laws at several levels. The Commonwealth bank inquiry as identified by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) portrays a weakened governance (Braddon & Hooper, 2018). The oversight and managerial role of the board of directors in quality decision making at different financial institutions have now turned to the scrutiny of the public. Taking the instance of commonwealth bank which was originally identified in an audit report in 2013 with failure to comply with the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing activities. In (Braddon & Hooper, 2018) the second report released in 2015 implicated the unwillingness by the management to positively take action on the report. Further, in 2016, an unambiguous report indicated a lack of concern to time compliance (Braddon & Hooper, 2018).
Although accountability happens to be one of the key values of Commonwealth Bank, the independent panel representing the APRA implicated a lack of urgency in holding the management into account (Braddon & Hooper, 2018). Through the Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigations report, it recommended the dismissal of some key staff who were found involved and operated during the period (Braddon & Hooper, 2018). Ideally and professionally the dismissal of such staff was not enough considering have been holding a public listed company and professionally knowingly failed to comply with the set corporate culture. Such staff should be recommended for delisting in the respective professional bodies together with a non-employability recommendation to ensure such does not happen in the future through another party(Braddon & Hooper, 2018).
Further the commissioner should recommend fines together with jail terms for these directors found involved in the cult. Another recommendation is that all those holding such managerial positions in the financial service sector should be required to be a full member of the professional bodies at good standing. The commissioner should also recommend for a similar corporate culture guideline for all financial banks as well as non-banks financial institution under its jurisdiction (Braddon & Hooper, 2018).
After the royal commission report, a two-sided benefit will come out. The report will be beneficial the shareholders and the public as they will get the chance to understand the activities of the bank management and hence make an informed decision in case need to invest. This is will be a negative impact to the affected banks as will cause loss of customers hence reduced profits (Chau & Clark, 2018).
Although the royal commission has been faced by opposition from some politician, the chance will give a chance to recommend strict rules to the banking sector using the report as a sample. This will also empower the independent bodies such as APRA and ASIC whose benefits have not been seen due to the complicated structure of governance. The current status of the banking sector will change to a more formal environment where rules and regulations will guide each and every activity performed by the board of governance (Chau & Clark, 2018).
Part D.
At the 21st century globalization, cross-cultural awareness and global awareness can all be referred to as synonyms. Through global awareness, we are able to understand the world in its dynamic cultures with diversified people. In the globalization of the financial markets, we are able to understand and analyze the new trends of financial means and methods coming up with technology. In this technological era, almost all sectors have transformed and new ways of solving problems have come up. Similarly, as similar the technology has simplified the financial markets the challenges have increased as well.
Globally, the technology has continued to revolutionize the banking, finance and accounting sectors despite the changes introduced here by the Royal Commission. Through the global adoption of the IFRS and GAAPS, the Australian accounting profession stands a similar challenge to any other accounting profession at any other country. The International accounting reporting standards IFRS have recently balanced the mean of financial reporting at any financial market despite the cross-cultural awareness adopted.
After the inauguration of the International Accounting Standards Boards (IASB) a body that is mandated to the development and setting up of standards set up by the IFRS in 2001, the world of accounting, finance and banking became similar. The IASB framework helps in the preparation of similar formatted financial statements. Through the IASB the professional members are provided with guidance on how to apply when dealing with issues of multicultural natures. IASB has promoted the global awareness of the profession through its adaptability in all nations including Australia. In this context, we are able to compare foreign bank located in a foreign country in the context of the Australian understanding we have gained from the Royal Commission (Meredith “et al” 2012).
According to Meredith “et al” (2012) culture is what makes your institution unique as compared to any other organization. In this context, an institution can refer to a profession such as the accounting profession, the nationality or the individual background. For our deep understanding of the Royal Commission report, we tend to research further and we encountered the Well Fargo bank located in California USA. Wells Fargo bank is the second largest bank in the world by market capitalization (Tian, 2016).
Regulation versus deregulation. Wells Fargo bank is regulated and managed by the American government under the Senate legislation. The bank’s activities such as trading, board management, and branch expansion are controlled and approved by the American government. Similar to the Australian banks, Wells Fargo has adopted the IFRS in its accounting processes which eventually gives out to similar accounting methods been applied (Tian, 2016).
According to Cressy “et al” (2012, P, 1- 4) ethics refers to the codes of morals. In the accounting profession, the practitioners are supposed to comply with set out ethics in their daily activities. Through the cross-cultural environment of different believes, the codes of ethics in the profession remain the drivers to guide the means of deliverance to ensure full compliance with the specific International Accounting Standards (IAS). In the context of the banking management the Royal commission’s issues are unique to the Australian market but if analyzed in the accounting and finance angle the challenges become similar to other challenge been encountered by different companies from different sectors all over the world. In general, viewing in the accounting profession angle, the issues exposed by the Royal commission are common in the practice and have been recurrent for years due to the several external factors. Such factors include; unwillingness to corporate by the managers in position, politicians intervention, technology and weaknesses in the professional bodies (Cressy “et al” 2012)
Lastly, globalization on its own is a factor to the success of the whole profession Ritzer, (2011). As the globe is composed of different countries with different capabilities, some areas are moving too fast as compared to the other. In our case we can witness this as the first Royal commission was launched in 1902 and still at the 21st century, the Australian government has not managed to compose a full body of commissioners who will not depend on periodical approval by politicians. As compared to the development of Wells Fargo bank which is an international company, we find its settling is lied down in a well-developing platform with enforced strong bodies supported by the American banking control sector (Ritzer, 2011).
In conclusion, good corporate governance creates a platform for success today and tomorrow. The organizational culture of an entity triggers a unique value, beliefs, and attitudes which eventually complements the overall goals of the organizations. Through the review of the interim royal commission report, there is a need to incorporate the accounting professional body to the bank’s management to enforce the regulator’s power through membership guidelines. The good culture strategy if adopted by the organization for success must supersede the productivity appetite. The organization’s culture is its sustaining value that offers its stability when encountered with challenges. However, if the culture is not managed professionally the culture consume the firm’s capability. Such constraints include “this is how we do things here”
References.
Braddon A & Hooper N, (2018). We need to talk about the Royal Commission. https://aicd.companydirectors.com.au/membership/company-director-magazine/2018-back-editions/june/royal-commission
Chau D & Clark E, (2018). Banking Royal Commission: How did we get here? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-30/banking-royal-commission-how-did-we-get-here/9210248
Cressy R, Cumming D & Mallin C, (2012). Entrepreneurship, Governance and Ethics.
Gericke R, (2018). Corporate Governance and risk Management in Financials Institutions: An International comparison between Brazil and Germany.
Hutchens G, (2018). Banking Royal Commission: All you need to know- so far. Retrieved 16/10/2018. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/apr/20/banking-royal-commission-all-you-need-to-know-so-far.
Meredith E, Halligan J & Horrigan B, (2012). Public Sector Governance in Australia.
Miller M, (2014). What is Corporate Culture and How it Affects Performance. https://www.emergenetics.com/blog/corporate-culture-affect-performance/
Morgan J, (2015). How Corporate Culture Impacts The Employee Experience. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/12/10/how-corporate-culture-impacts-the-employee-experience/#3ed9a5dd787
Nuttin J & Greenwald A, (2014). Reward and Punishment in Human Learning: Elements of a Behavior Theory
Peters A & Handschin L, (2012). Conflict of Interest in Global, Public and Corporate Governance.
Ritzer G, (2011). Globalization: The Essentials.
Tian W, (2016). Commercial Banking Risk Management: Regulation in the Wake of the Financial Crisis.
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