Financial Corporations Act (Cth) of 1974
During the 1960s the Commonwealth viewed the gradual contraction of the banks
vis a vis the nonbank intermediaries with concern for the effectiveness of its
monetary policies. The view that the management of aggregate demand required
further control of the non-bank financial intermediaries gained ground, and
resulted in the Financial Corporations Act (Cth) of 1974, which obliged
financial corporations registered under state or territory legislation to supply
information on their operations to the Reserve Bank and to the Commonwealth
statistician. The Act also provided that, in respect of financial
corporations with total assets exceeding five million dollars, the Reserve Bank
could promulgate regulations on asset ratios, the volume and direction of
lending, and maximum interest rates. As it turned out, these powers have not
been used.