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Thirty
Questions and Supporting
Evidence |
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CLICK ON BELOW
QUESTION
NUMBERS |
Question
Recipient |
Issue/Problem/Negligence/Predatory/Discrimination/Deceit/Unconscionable
'et al' |
Number of Supporting
Evidence
Documents |
|
|
1st |
Royal
Commissioner |
Will the Royal Commissioner request financial data from the primary six
Credit Card Issuers
(Four Pillars,
Citibank and
Latitude Financial
nee G.E. Capital)
that identifies the contributors of
Interest And Penalty Fees Revenue
to test the
Writer's
calculation that
Persistent Revolvers account for
12.58%
circa of 7,515,000 Credit Cardholders
- June 2016), yet contribute 80 circa of all
Interest And Penalty Fees Revenue? |
14 |
|
|
2nd |
Governor of the Reserve Bank |
Why
did the
Reserve Bank published
LOAN RATE STICKINESS: THEORY AND EVIDENCE in June 1992
and never act upon its 'sticky' findings re the plummeting
Overnight Cash Rate? |
12 |
|
|
3rd |
Governor of the Reserve Bank |
What
did the
Reserve Bank hope to achieve from publishing
Reform of Credit Card Schemes in Aust: "A Consultation Document"
in March 2001?
Why hasn't
the
RBA over the subsequent 17 years informed the Commonwealth government, as
obligated under
Reserve Bank Act 1959 - Section 11, 'Differences
of opinion with Government on questions of policy' of the
need to
determine in the
Public Interest new
Standards
to apply the
User Pays Principle
to the
Retail Supply Side
of
Credit Card Products?
|
9 |
|
|
4th |
Governor of the Reserve Bank |
Will the
Reserve Bank set a new
Standard, pursuant to
Division 4 Section 18,
to replace
the debt 'lure' of an
Interest Free Period
with
a
-
*
Concessional Interest Rate Period;
and
*
Purchase Usage Fee,
for each
Purchase
with a
Credit Card,
so that each user pays
for the benefits of their
Revolving Line/s of Credit?
|
2 |
|
|
5th |
Governor of the Reserve Bank |
Does the Governor of the
Reserve Bank agree with the former Assistant Commissioner, Dr. Malcolm Edey's,
below response to a question from the Acting Chair of the
Senate Economics Legislation Committee
on 1 June 2015?
"...
we do not have an interest rate regulator in
Australia...............
What we do have is
an ACCC that can investigate uncompetitive conduct if they see it, but they
clearly have not seen it in this market."
|
2 |
|
|
6th |
Governor of the Reserve Bank |
Does the Governor of the
Reserve Bank
concur with the
1st paragraph on page 3 of
Senate 'Economics Reference Committee' summary report titled
Interest
rates and informed choice in the Australian credit card market dated
Dec. 2015 which justified Dr. Edey's
response (listed in
Question
5) which asserted that the ACCC is responsible to monitor and
regulate credit card interest rates, even after the
RBA had
Designated,
established an
Access Regime and
Determine a Standard/s? |
3 |
|
|
7th |
Governor of the Reserve Bank |
Does the Governor of the
Reserve Bank
agree with Dr. Malcolm Edey's
below responses to the
Senate 'Economics Reference Committee'
on 1 June 2015?
"Yes, the
financial system works through competition. The
basic wholesale interest rate is the cash rate,
which we set, and then competitive forces will
cause other interest rates to move up and down
with the cash rate. That is the way the effect
of policy is transmitted to the wider economy."
|
5 |
|
|
8th |
Governor of the Reserve Bank |
Is
the Governor
of the
Reserve Bank
in
possession of empirical evidence that supports Dr. Malcolm Edey's
contention (in Dr. Edey's responses to the Acting Chair of the
Senate 'Economics Reference Committee'
on 1 June 2017)
that a viable opportunity exists for Credit Cardholders that have
managed to 'chalk up' considerable debit, often across several
Credit Cards, to
consolidate those debts in a zero or introductory low interest rate
Credit Card to
".... pay off their loans more
quickly"? |
4 |
|
|
9th |
Chairman
of
APRA
|
APRA
Chairman
responded to
a Senator Hearing in Canberra on 3 June 2017
"....the margins on credit card business look very high , certainly
to any other form of credit, and certainly I can't sit here today
with an explanation of why that is,"............ and ............
"Informing us all about that is probably a useful piece of work".
What did the
Council
of Financial Regulators
seek post 3
June 2017 to understand why Credit Card interest rates were so high, when
the
Cash Rate is
at an all time low of 1.5%? |
8 |
|
|
10th |
Governor of the Reserve Bank |
Has the
Governor of the
Reserve Bank who is the
Chair of the
Council
of Financial Regulators,
and co-wrote
LOAN RATE STICKINESS: THEORY AND EVIDENCE in June 1992,
ever discussed with the other two members of that Council, namely
APRA
and
ASIC, the
RBA informing the Government, pursuant to
section 11(1) of the Reserve Bank Act 1959,
of the need for the
RBA, pursuant to
section 50 of the Banking Act 1959, to re-regulate a maximum interest rate for
Purchases and
for
Cash Advances due to the burgeoning gap between the
Overnight Cash Rate of 1.5% and interest rates charged on low interest and on high
interest Credit Cards that peak at 29.49% for a
Cash Advance using a
Latitude Financial
"Go MasterCard"?
|
8 |
|
|
11th |
Royal
Commissioner |
Will
the Royal Commission recommend to the Chair of the
Three Financial Regulators
to provide Minutes of their quarterly meetings?
|
7 |
|
|
12th |
Governor of the Reserve Bank |
Is the Board of the
Reserve Bank
which is chartered under
Section 10(2) 'Functions of Reserve Bank
Board' of the
Reserve Bank Act 1959
to
"best
contribute to.......... the
economic prosperity and welfare of the
people of Australia"
aware of the primary findings of the reports (published
from 2005) from the
Productivity Commission, the ABS and ASIC that
classify and quantify the Financial Literacy Capacity of Australians that are
ranked as low as less than Level 1 up to Level 5?
|
3 |
|
|
13th |
Chairman
of ASIC |
Will the Chair of
ASIC
that is bound by
Part 1-Preliminary Division 1 Objects
of
the
ASIC Act 2001 to -
* "improve
the performance of the financial system and entities in it;
and
*
" receive,
process and store, efficiently and quickly, information that is given to us",
inform what action
ASIC took to
protect
Financially Uneducated And Vulnerable
Credit Cardholders
that have poor
Financial Literacy Capacity,
after
ASIC published
Report 224 "Access
to financial advice in Australia"
in Dec 2010?
|
1 |
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|
14th |
Chair of
Council
of Financial Regulators |
Will the Chair of the
Council
of Financial Regulators
provide to the
Royal Commission a schedule of the respective responsibilities of the
RBA, APRA and
ASIC (and the clauses relied upon in their respective
Acts listed at the top of this letter), that satisfy the 'Terms of Reference' and
'Statement of Expectations'
required under the
PGPA Act, that obligates each regulator to ensure
competition amongst
Credit Card Products which involves seeking information
to establish that
Credit Card Issuers
are not
engaging in
Numeracy And Literacy Discrimination
through
Unconscionable Credit Card Advertising
targeted at Credit Cardholders with low
Numeracy and Literacy Skills? |
5 |
|
|
15th |
Governor of the Reserve Bank |
Will the Governor of the
Reserve Bank inform why its
Payments System
Board's 'Responsibilities and Powers
webpage
does not also list the
Banking Act 1959
under legislation that
governs the Payment Systems Board's
responsibilities and
powers?
|
1 |
|
|
16th |
Chair of
Council
of Financial Regulators |
Will the
Chair of the
Council
of Financial Regulators
inform
if it sought
financial data from the primary six
Credit Card Issuers
(Four
Pillars,
Citibank and
Latitude Financial
nee G.E. Capital), that identifies the number,
Outstanding Indebtedness
and demography of
Credit Cardholders that are
Persistent Revolvers
after the
RBA quantified in
Graph 7 of
RBA Submission
to the Senate Inquiry into Matters Relating to Credit Card Interest Rates -
Aug 2015
the indebtedness borne by
Persistent Revolvers? |
3 |
|
|
17th |
Chairman
of ACCC |
Will the Royal Commission
ask the
Chairman of the ACCC, Mr. Rod Sims,
to
examine the information in advertisements for Credit Cards
(explained in the
Nine Examples
within
Labyrinth of
‘Concealed Spiders’),
with
particular regard to obligations under the
National Consumer Credit
Protection Amendment (Home Loans and Credit Cards) Act 2011,
to determine if any represent
Predatory Advertising,
ipso facto
Unconscionable Conduct
(based in the ACCC's description of
Unconscionable Conduct)? |
2 |
|
|
18th |
Chairman
of ACCC |
Will the Royal Commission ask the
Chairman of the ACCC, Mr. Rod Sims, if the 'Conditions
of use' booklets issued by St. George Bank, ANZ and
Westpac (summarised
in table in
Chapter 1) with text in small fonts
constitute
Unconscionable Conduct? |
3 |
|
|
19th |
Royal
Commissioner |
Will the Royal Commission recommend to the
Three Financial Services Regulators that they use their existing
regulatory powers to require all
Credit Card Issuers to simplify their
Credit Card Products
so that their Credit Cards 'Conditions of Use' booklet,
together with any Schedule/s referred to therein, do not exceed -
(a) 50 pages in text no smaller than Arial 10;
and
(b) the existing height and width
of the booklet?
|
4 |
|
|
20th |
Royal
Commissioner |
Does each of the
Four Pillars reducing their low interest credit card by
5% circa amidst the prospect of a Royal Commission,
evidence that the
Four Pillars
that issue 80% of Credit Cards used in
Australia, were uncompetitive during the
Council
of Financial Regulators 'watch', when each of the
RBA,
ASIC
and
APRA
have regulatory obligations to the Australian public
to ensure real competition amongst
Credit Card Issuers,
under
Section 10(2) 'Functions
of Reserve Bank Board' of Reserve Bank Act 1959 to
"best
contribute to.......... the
economic prosperity and welfare of the
people of Australia"
and for the PSB to always
Act
in the Public Interest? |
4 |
|
|
21st |
Royal
Commissioner |
Will the Royal Commission recommend to the
Three Financial Regulators that they use their existing
regulatory powers to ban
Reward Programs?
|
6 |
|
|
22nd |
Royal
Commissioner |
Will the Royal Commission recommend to the
Three Financial Regulators that they use their existing
regulatory powers to ban
Credit Card Issuers
paying third party credit
card websites (finder.com,
canstar.com.au,
iselect.com.au
'et al')
to market/advertise/promote/recommend in any way, shape or form their
Credit Card Products
because such advertisements are conflicted, often misleading and deceptive and targeted at
Credit Cardholders with low
Financial Literacy Capacity as classified/quantified by the Productivity Commission and the ABS? |
3 |
|
|
23rd |
Royal
Commissioner |
Will the Royal Commission recommend to the
Three Financial Regulators that they use their existing
regulatory powers to ban any Credit Card Issuer offering
Balance Transfer Interest Free or Very Low interest introductory offers
which 'poach' profitable
Financially Uneducated And Vulnerable
other bank
Credit Cardholders
because
Persistent Revolvers
that
Lack Financial Acumen
contribute 80%
circa
of all
Interest and Penalty Fees Revenue generated from
Credit Card Products? |
8 |
|
|
24th |
Royal
Commissioner |
Will the Royal Commission ask the
ASIC chairman, James Shipton,
why
ASIC
made the following statement in
ASIC's Submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into competition in the
Australian financial system -
Sept 2017?
"A senate inquiry submission by Treasury noted that in 2013 only 30% of surveyed
users reported paying interest on their credit card balance.98
.
Contrary to this
self-reporting though,
the share of balances attracting interest at the time was in fact closer to two-thirds.99"
|
1 |
|
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25th |
Royal
Commissioner |
Will
the Royal Commission recommend to the Governor of the
Reserve Bank that it provide to
the House of Representatives in the
Commonwealth Parliament an annual written
'Statement on the Conduct of Monetary Policy' which includes, inter alia -
A. an annual written 'Report on the
Profitability of Credit Cards'; and
B. certifies that Visa and MasterCard separately
complied with the two weighted-aver age
Interchange Fee benchmarks,
including 'companion cards',
during the relevant year,
namely 0.50% for Credit Cards and
8 cents
for Debit Cards?
|
3 |
|
|
26th |
Chair of Reserve Bank Board of Directors |
Will the
Royal Commission ask the Board of Directors of
RBA
to declare their aggregate -
*
Annual Cardholder Fees paid; and
*
Interest Costs
paid,
by
the eight members in
the 12 months to 30 June 2017 for enjoying the convenience of the
Lines of Credit provided by their personal Credit Cards?
|
1 |
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|
27th |
Governor of the Reserve Bank |
Will the
Royal Commission ask the Governor of the Reserve Bank what investigations the Reserve Bank
has undertaken with Credit Card Issuers, the three
Credit Reporting Agencies,
Financial Counsellors
and
Credit Card Distress Authorities to understand the number of
Credit Cardholders that are
experiencing
Extreme Financial And Emotional Distress
and the various financial quanta of that distress? |
7 |
|
|
28th |
Governor of the Reserve Bank |
Will the
Royal Commission ask the Governor of the
Reserve Bank
what the
Reserve Bank has done, and when it did it, to ensure that
Credit Card Issuers
do not issue further
Credit
Cards to applicants that are
experiencing
Extreme Financial And Emotional Distress
due to already having been issued
several Credit Cards?
|
7 |
|
|
29th |
Governor of the Reserve Bank |
Will the Royal Commission ask the
Reserve Bank to draw upon
its existing
Extensive Powers to establish a Standard for a 'Uniform Credit Evaluation Methodology' that all Credit Card Issuers must observe similar to
NAB's Microenterprise Loans
because too many Australian adults have obtained Credit Cards
with excessive interest rates which would be lower if the payment defaults were lower
due to a robust designated 'Uniform Credit Evaluation Methodology' that all
Credit Card Issuers
observed? |
7 |
|
|
30th |
Governor of the Reserve Bank |
Will the
Royal Commission recommend that the
Reserve
Bank
set a new Standard, pursuant to
Division 4, Section 18,
that requires all
Credit Card Issuers to issue a 'Provisional' Charge Card to any applicant
under the age of 21 that has not previously held a
Credit
Card? Any such applicant, predominantly school leavers, would need to
repay the entire
Closing Balance by the
Payment Due Date for a minimum of three months, prior to being issued with
a
Credit Card? |
2 |
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