From: Philip Johnston [mailto:scribepj@bigpond.com]
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2018 1:20 PM
To: 'FSRC Enquiries' <fsrcenquiries@royalcommission.gov.au>
Subject: Attached is my Public Submission re the Council of Financial
Regulators having breached their Statutory Duty re regulating Credit Card
Issuers for Predatory Marketing to Financially Uneducated Vulnerable Australians
with poor Financial Literacy Capacity
I refer to your below email sent Thurs, April 19, 3:12 PM that informed me that I could submit my Public Submission in PDF format to this email address.
My Public Submission focuses on one, or in a few cases all, of the Council of Financial Regulators having breached their Statutory Duty re regulating Credit Card Issuers that too often have been guilty of Predatory Marketing of Credit Card Products to Financially Uneducated Vulnerable Australians with poor Financial Literacy Capacity, as quantified by the Productivity Commission and the ABS. With the result that 67% of Credit Cardholders, described by the RBA as Transactors, enjoy their Lines of Credit at often no fee/costs, with many Transactors receiving Rewards Programs, whilst Persistent Revolvers that represent less than 13% of all Credit Cardholders pay 80% circa of all Interests and Penalty Fees.
Following receipt of your below email last Thurs, I have expended 13 hours to convert my Public Submission (that I had sought to provide in a DVD and USB Flash Drive) from htm files (linked by embedded URLs) into my attached four PDF files.
I had to reformat a lot of paragraphs which was a labour intensive process.
1st PDF Attachment is my bibliography of over 600 ‘Defined Terms and Documents’ that I have studied, stored and linked via embedded threads during my seven years of researching often Unconscionable Conduct by Credit Card Issuers. (I have provided my 1st Attachment as evidence that claims that I make in my 30 Written Questions, ostensibly directed at the RBA, or ASIC or APRA, can more readily be authenticated if accessing my Public Submission via a DVD or USB Flash Drive.)
2nd PDF Attachment is my –
1. Public Submission letter addressed to the Royal Commissioner [4 pgs]; and
2. Summary Table that –
· snapshots each of my 30 Written Questions [6 pgs] in the wide centre column of the Summary Table titled ‘Issue/Problem/Negligence/Discrimination et al‘,
· the particular regulator/s that the Royal Commission might opt to ask my provided Questions, and
· the ‘Number of Supporting Evidence Documents’ for each Written Question.
If you were reading my Summary Table of 30 Written Questions from my DVD or USB Flash Drive, by clicking on the particular Question # (eg 21st Question) ‘ipso facto’ a separate htm file would open that contains the full text of the Written Question and all of the ‘Supporting Evidence Documents’ to justify the Question. (My 3rd Attachment enables counsel to source that information manually, albeit without further access from the embedded threads).
3rd PDF Attachment [50 pgs] contains –
1. each of my 30 Written Questions;
2. the particular regulator, or the Royal Commissioner, that each Question is directed at; and
3. the Supporting Documentary Evidence for that Question.
4th PDF Attachment is the cover page for my DVD.
I hope that counsel –
a) reviews the snapshot of each of my 30 Written Questions located in the centre column ‘Issue/Problem/Negligence/Discrimination et al‘ of my Summary Table from page 5 in my 2nd Attachment;
b) will then read some of my Supporting Evidence in my 3rd PDF Attachment – although the embedded threads will not open; and
c) will permit me to post my DVD and USB Flash Drive and A4 paper hardcopy to the Royal Commission which facilitates more readily comprehending the merit and authenticity of each of my suggested 30 Questions.
Credit Cards are the most differentiated product (in both the quantity of 'types' and 'providers') in the entire Western World.
The 'money lenders' in the 21st Century have targeted citizens with low Financial Literacy Capacity, as measured by the Productivity Commission and the ABS, by promoting a few benefits, but often misrepresenting material hidden cost/s.
According to CANSTAR data cited by Westpac, Submission 21, p. 3, as at July 2015, there were at least 83 institutions in Australia offering 266 different credit card products.
Canstar now reports the number of Credit Card Issuers is 63 that provide over 200 different Credit Cards.
The Finder webpage lists the below nine categories:
2. Low interest rate credit cards
3. Balance transfer credit cards
5. Frequent flyer credit cards
6. Gold, platinum and black cards
Phil Johnston aka
Bank
Teller
0434 715.861
From: Philip Johnston [mailto:scribepj@bigpond.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2018 5:59 PM
To: 'FSRC Enquiries' <fsrcenquiries@royalcommission.gov.au>
Subject: RE: I seek to post my Public Submission re regulatory failures
re Credit Cards to the Royal Commission in DVD and USB Flash Drive to enable you
to click on embedded threads to pertinent Sections of Acts that our three
Regulators should have relied upon [S
Tomorrow I will work on incorporating my Public Submission, which is 30 Written Questions to ask either the RBA, ASIC or APRA into a PDF, but the embedded threads of my Supporting Evidence will not be able to be reviewed.
Hopefully, the Royal Commission will see merit in some of my Written Questions and invite me to provide my full Public Submission in a User Friendly DVD and USB.
I have been monitoring the Royal Commission. I am exceedingly impressed with the legal counsel.
Findings thus far do not speak highly of Australia’s financial services regulators.
Cheers
Phil Johnston aka
Bank
Teller
0434 715.861
From: FSRC Enquiries [mailto:fsrcenquiries@royalcommission.gov.au]
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2018 3:12 PM
To: Philip Johnston <scribepj@bigpond.com>
Cc: FSRC Enquiries <fsrcenquiries@royalcommission.gov.au>
Subject: RE: I seek to post my Public Submission re regulatory failures
re Credit Cards to the Royal Commission in DVD and USB Flash Drive to enable you
to click on embedded threads to pertinent Sections of Acts that our three
Regulators should have relied upon [S
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Johnston
Unfortunately, the Commission is not able to accept DVD or USB submissions. To ensure that your information is received and reviewed as soon as possible by the Commission, we recommend that you try submitting using the online form.
If you are unable to submit using the online form, please forward your submission in PDF format to: FSRCenquiries@royalcommission.gov.au.
Thank you for your understanding.
Kind regards
Office of the Royal Commission
From:
Philip Johnston [mailto:scribepj@bigpond.com]
Sent: Tuesday, 17 April 2018 6:13 PM
To: FSRC Enquiries
Subject: RE: I seek to post my Public Submission re regulatory failures
re Credit Cards to the Royal Commission in DVD and USB Flash Drive to enable you
to click on embedded threads to pertinent Sections of Acts that our three
Regulators should have relied upon [S
My first of three emails, sent 29th March, that I have sent to this address is at the bottom of this email
I sent two subsequent emails to this email address sent 10th April and 13th April which are attached.
They explain why I have prepared my Public Submission on DVD and USB Stick.
Could you please read them and respond to me.
Regards
Phil Johnston aka
Bank
Teller
0434 715.861
From: FSRC Enquiries [mailto:fsrcenquiries@royalcommission.gov.au]
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2018 5:26 PM
To: Philip Johnston <scribepj@bigpond.com>
Cc: FSRC Enquiries <fsrcenquiries@royalcommission.gov.au>
Subject: RE: I seek to post my Public Submission re regulatory failures
re Credit Cards to the Royal Commission in DVD and USB Flash Drive to enable you
to click on embedded threads to pertinent Sections of Acts that our three
Regulators should have relied upon [S
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Johnston
The Commission is not able to accept DVD or USB submissions.
To assist the Commission, we request that you summarise your submission. If there are any supporting documents included, such as bank statements, please remove these. If the Commission requires any additional information or documentation from you, you will be contacted by an officer of the Commission, once your submission has been reviewed.
To ensure that your information is received and reviewed as soon as possible by the Commission, we recommend that you submit using the online form. If you are unable to submit using the online form, please forward your submission in PDF format to: FSRCenquiries@royalcommission.gov.au.
Kind regards
Office of the Royal Commission
From:
Philip Johnston [mailto:scribepj@bigpond.com]
Sent: Tuesday, 17 April 2018 12:51 PM
To: FSRC Enquiries
Subject: RE: I seek to post my Public Submission re regulatory failures
re Credit Cards to the Royal Commission in DVD and USB Flash Drive to enable you
to click on embedded threads to pertinent Sections of Acts that our three
Regulators should have relied upon
I have not made a Public Submission to the Royal Commission.
I am exceedingly enthused with the manner the counsel for the Royal Commission are conducting their enquiries at the Public Hearings.
My three emails to the FSRC Enquiries fsrcenquiries@royalcommission.gov.au have all requested a postal address for me to submit my Public Submission which is on a DVD (and also USB Stick Flash Drive), because my public Submission provides a lot of documentary evidence in support of the 30 Written Questions that I hope the Royal Commission will consider asking of one of the Council of Financial Regulators (RBA, ASIC and APRA).
Most of my 30 Written Questions are directed at Australia’s ‘central bank’, the RBA which regulated the maximum credit card interest rate at 18% until April 1985 when the overnight cash rate was 17.2%
I do hope that the Royal Commission will provide to me a postal address for me to post my public Submission on a DVD and a USB Stick and also on A4 paper.
The advantage of the DVD is that it auto-opens at my Public Submission, whereas if accessing with a USB Stick Flash drive, the user has to navigate to that page.
Phil Johnston aka
Bank Teller
0434 715.861
From: FSRC Enquiries [mailto:fsrcenquiries@royalcommission.gov.au]
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2018 12:15 PM
To: Philip Johnston
Cc: FSRC Enquiries
Subject: RE: I seek to post my Public Submission re regulatory failures
re Credit Cards to the Royal Commission in DVD and USB Flash Drive to enable you
to click on embedded threads to pertinent Sections of Acts that our three
Regulators should have relied upon [S
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Johnston
Thank you for making a submission to the Royal Commission. We confirm that we have received the documents you have sent.
In the event that the Royal Commission requires the supporting documentation in addition to your submission to complete its work, you will be contacted directly by the Commission.
The Commission will not contact everyone who makes a submission but will ensure that all submissions are recorded, reviewed and used to inform the Commission's work.
To receive updates from the Commission, you can subscribe to the mailing list.
Kind regards
Office of the Royal Commission
From: Philip Johnston [mailto:scribepj@bigpond.com]
Sent: Thursday, 29 March 2018 3:32 PM
To: FSRC Enquiries
Subject: I seek to post my Public Submission re regulatory failures re
Credit Cards to the Royal Commission in DVD and USB Flash Drive to enable you to
click on embedded threads to pertinent Sections of Acts that our three
Regulators should have relied upon
(Please click on embedded threads below)
I worked for CBA for 37 years prior to retirement.
I have prepared a Public Submission pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902 (Cth) and the Terms of Reference for the Royal Commission into misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry that details systemic failings in the regulatory performance of the RBA, ASIC and to a lesser extent APRA, over the Credit Cards Payments System and its highly differentiated Credit Card Products.
Representatives of these three statutory regulators comprise the non-statutory Council of Financial Regulators that meets quarterly, but do not publish Minutes of their discussions.
My Public Submission –
(i) focuses upon breaches of Statutory Duty by the above three regulators, in particular the RBA and ASIC; and
(ii) provides 24 Written Questions directed at one of the RBA, ASIC or APRA that the Royal Commission may choose to ask of the Governor of the RBA (Philip Lowe), the Chair of ASIC (James Shipton) or the Chair of APRA (Wayne Byres).
Each of my 24 Written Questions provides detailed Supporting Evidence (easily accessible by embedded threads) to justify each Written Question. Most of my 24 Written Questions are directed to the Governor of the RBA because they refer to particular Sections of the:
· Payment Systems Board Act 1998
Primary Sections relied upon are:
· Section 50 ‘Control of interest rates’ of the Banking Act 1959
· Section 10(2) 'Functions of Reserve Bank Board' of Reserve Bank Act 1959
· Division 2—Section 11 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998
· Division 3—Section 12 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998
· Division 4---Section 18 of the Payments System (Regulation) Act 1998
I have also reviewed
* Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001
* Competition and Consumer Act 2010
* Memorandum of Understanding - Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Reserve Bank of Australia dated 8 Sept 1998
* Memorandum of Understanding - Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority and Australian Securities and Investments Commission dated 8 Oct 1998
* Memorandum of Understanding - Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and Reserve Bank of Australia dated 12 October 1998
* Memorandum of Understanding - Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission dated 30 November 1999
* Memorandum of Understanding - Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Reserve Bank Of Australia dated 18 March 2002
I have expended about 3,000 hours over the last eight years investigating and documenting (on my computer) ‘inter alia’ Predatory Marketing of Credit Cards to Australians with poor Financial Literacy Capacity as measured in published reports by the ABS and the Productivity Commission.
26 years ago when the Campbell Committee recommendations were being implemented, the prospect of a Royal Commission into the 'financial services sector' would have been viewed as implausible to those Australians that lived through the lengthy regulated interest rate epoch in Australia's financial history, because -
(i) the Reserve Bank and its predecessor the then Govt. owned, Commonwealth Bank, had increasingly regulated 'with an iron fist in a velvet glove' the commercial banks since 1911 as chronicled in my Public Submission; and
(ii) historically when de-regulation resulted in adverse consequences, re-regulation by Australia's 'central bank' ensued.
Between 1960 and 1980 the Reserve Bank diligently regulated commercial Australian bank interest rates relying on, inter alia, Section 50 of the Banking Act 1959.
Until 1980 banks could not offer more than 3¾% on a passbook account and 6½% interest on a Savings Investment Account (minimum account balance of $500, deposits and withdrawals must be $100 or greater, and 7 days written notice had to be given to the bank for all withdrawals). Leading up to 1980, building societies (unregulated) were offering materially higher interest rates and attracting bank customers 'in droves'.
Prior to 1985 the maximum interest rate that could be charged on a credit card had been set at 18% pa by the Reserve Bank of Australia. In April 1985 this rate was deregulated.
Three primary references to my Public Submission are:
A. Three Pivotal 'Landmark' RBA Published Papers in the last 26 years
B. The Writer's CD submission to RBA sent 8 Dec 2011
C. Over 550 Documents and Defined Terms that are all readily accessible thru embedded threads
Re A. above, the Three Pivotal 'Landmark' RBA Published Papers in the last 26 years are:
(i) Loan Rate Stickiness: Theory and Evidence written by Philip Lowe and Thomas Rohling in June 1992
(ii) Reform of Credit Card Schemes in Aust - A Consultation Document - Dec 2001 - RBA
(iii) RBA Submission to the Senate Inquiry into Matters Relating to Credit Card Interest Rates - Aug 2015 - Submission 20 to the Senate Economics References Committee
Could you please either email (or telephone) a postal address that I can post my afore-mentioned Public Submission re systemic risk to the Royal Commission into misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry in a DVD, a USB Flash Drive, with my covering letter also in A4 paper. My DVD will auto-open (on a Windows Operating System) at my covering letter to the Royal Commission.
NB: My Public Submission includes the following Declaration that I am not conflicted:
Philip Johnston -
1. worked for CBA for 37 years prior to retirement in 2007;
2. owns two Credit Cards and a Debit Card;
3. pays no Annual Cardholder Fee on either of his Credit Cards;
4. earns Reward Points under a Rewards Programme on one of his two Credit Cards;
5. uses the other Credit Card when offshore because it doesn't charge an F/X fee and exchanges Purchases in foreign currencies back to AUD at close to the mid-rate;
6. uses his Debit Card when offshore because it doesn't charge an F/X conversion fee when withdrawing a foreign currency in cash eg. in USD or in Euros; and
7. has not paid any Interest or Penalty Fees for at least 20 years because he has provided written authorisation to his two Credit Card Issuers to debit his CBA Streamline account for his monthly Closing Balance on the Payment Due Date.
Phil Johnston aka
Bank Teller
0434 715.861