Swan to continue pressure on banks
(31 January 2012 – Australia) Australia’s Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan said he would continue to pressure banks to pass on the benefit of moves in official interest rates.
Swan said he intended to continue to be ‘‘frank and fearless’’ when it comes to discussing the nation’s banking system.
His comments follow a study showing Australian bankers had ranked the euro zone debt crisis and political interference as the biggest threat to the global banking system.
The findings on political interference came in above concerns such as a possible funding squeeze or rising bad debts.
The views of the Australian bankers were included in a global survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and London's Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, drawn from the concerns of more than 700 bankers, observers and regulators.
With rising scrutiny on banks over out-of-cycle interest rates, bankers are more worried about being targeted by politicians than their global counterparts.
Political interference came in second on the Australian survey of top-perceived risks to the system, compared with the results of the global survey where it ranked fifth.
Swan shrugged off the findings, ‘‘I won’t be pulling back from my discussion about the important issues associated with interest rates,’’ Swan told ABC radio on Monday morning. ‘‘I will be making frank and fearless comment about that’’.
Swan said he was supportive of the nation’s banks, but he noted they were ‘‘very highly profitable’’ with rates of return that are unequalled in the world.
‘‘I’m very delighted that our banks are profitable, that they are strong, that they are highly capitalised. All of those things are highly desirable features of our banking system but at the same time we need a banking system which is competitive and which delivers to its customers a good deal,’’ Mr Swan said.
His comments follow a study showing Australian bankers had ranked the euro zone debt crisis and political interference as the biggest threat to the global banking system.
The findings on political interference came in above concerns such as a possible funding squeeze or rising bad debts.
The views of the Australian bankers were included in a global survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and London's Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, drawn from the concerns of more than 700 bankers, observers and regulators.
With rising scrutiny on banks over out-of-cycle interest rates, bankers are more worried about being targeted by politicians than their global counterparts.
Political interference came in second on the Australian survey of top-perceived risks to the system, compared with the results of the global survey where it ranked fifth.
Swan shrugged off the findings, ‘‘I won’t be pulling back from my discussion about the important issues associated with interest rates,’’ Swan told ABC radio on Monday morning. ‘‘I will be making frank and fearless comment about that’’.
Swan said he was supportive of the nation’s banks, but he noted they were ‘‘very highly profitable’’ with rates of return that are unequalled in the world.
‘‘I’m very delighted that our banks are profitable, that they are strong, that they are highly capitalised. All of those things are highly desirable features of our banking system but at the same time we need a banking system which is competitive and which delivers to its customers a good deal,’’ Mr Swan said.
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