The heads of the key industry bodies are confident that ex-
CBA boss
David Murray is the right man to lead the biggest inquiry into the financial system in the best part of two decades.
MFAA CEO Phil Naylor says Murray is a well experienced person in his field and “appropriate to lead this important inquiry”.
Peter White, president of the
FBAA, agrees, adding that Murray is “obviously nobody’s fool”.
“We need someone with real industry knowledge for this job and the fact that he ran the largest bank in the country means he’s probably not a bad person to tick that box.
“Outside of that there may be other reasons to say no, but if we’re looking at the financial system of this country that insider’s knowledge is crucial, and he definitely has it.”
Naylor adds the outcome will be “a template for the optimal operations of the finance industry over the next decade or so” and that improved competition and access to funding across the entire lending sector will be a key focus for the MFAA.
Both Naylor and White agree that reducing regulations to allow overseas banks to enter the market and increase competition in the sector should be a key focus area for the inquiry.
“The bench posts set by APRA are great if you’re already in the country, but if you’re used to working in different places those are serious barriers that put people off working here. It almost feels as though it’s deliberately anti-competitive, like they want to keep the door shut and let us play our own game,” says White.
Simplifying the paperwork involved in lending for the benefit of consumer understanding should also be a focus, adds White, along with a serious overhaul of the LMI system.
