The People vs The Banks

by Michael Roddan

People will protest: you can bank on it.
The banking royal commission has put the financial sector on trial and exposed its self-interest, corruption and excess. The People vs The Banks reveals what happens when businesses put profit before punters, reward bad behaviour and assume they are beyond the law. The day of reckoning for liars and thieves in pin-striped suits has arrived.

Genres: Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

Published April 2, 2019

Reviews

[Rick Morton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A meticulous, forensic takedown of spivs and loose regulators who had their way with the financial system and got away with it for so long. So much of what eventually came out was based on Mike's reporting and he delivers the goods here in a way that makes it read like a thriller. This is more than a book about policy, it's a true crime novel.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't expect to be giving this one four stars. But after methodically explaining and exposing the shonkiness of so much of the finance industry, Roddan gathered the various strands together quite nicely in the last few chapters, and forecasts the need for greater scrutiny of the superannuation sector in future.

Basically if I was in any way a customer of NAB, AMP, IOOF, I'd be shutting my accounts after reading this, and of course I now have to go and examine my insurance policies to see if my money is going down the toilet. And I consider myself reasonably financially literate, but I was shocked at the contempt these companies showed for customers.

This book is important reading for anyone working in corporate Australia to prod us think a bit about our obligation to be concerned for the interests of the customer, for the little guy, rather than purely for the business.

And for people involved in policy-making, whether lowly EOs, backbench MPs, to those working for regulators or advising Ministers- this book helps to understand the need for sensible and robust regulation that takes into account the greed and self-interest of humanity, especially for free-market oriented types (like me).

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and a very worthwhile read.

[Malcolm Frawley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember the banking Royal Commission well. Just as I remember Scott Morrison's refusal, on dozens of occasions, to create one. I doubt you'll need any further evidence that unbridled capitalism has only one reason for existing - profits. And whoever gets in its way will be chewed up & swallowed; or spat out. In this case, it was banking & insurance customers who were screwed in every imaginable way, & a few you could barely believe, after placing their faith in financial services. And the lack of shame or guilt presented by the CEOs & board members who were dragged before the Commission beggars belief. There are clear parallels between this & the Royal Commission into the institutional sexual abuse of children. Everyone who engaged in the obscene practices knew what they were doing, & knew it was wrong, but were implicitly, at the very least, condoned by those at the top. How dozens of ex-banking & insurance execs are not doing time now is the next crime. Well-explained by the author so that a financial illiterate like myself could keep up. But be prepared to boil with anger.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars