Ethics and Financial Services Assignment -

Learning Outcome -

• Apply ethical principles and decisionmaking models in arriving at a responsible and ethical judgement in routine and complex finance decisions
• Communicate the responsibilities of professionals in relation to stakeholder interests
• Integrate and communicate knowledge of ethics and professionalism in financial services from corporate and individual perspectives in national and international setting

Research essay on the recent Australian Royal Commission into the banking and finance sector. Need to satisfy all the given requirement.

This is an independent research task which broadly aligns to Topic 2 on Corporate Governance, however forward reading of your lecture notes, the textbook and the sourcing of information from newspaper articles is also required. Topic 2 will form the underlying basis of your discussions, however detailed research is required by students to gain specific insight into the Royal Commission, the rationale for it and the interim findings to date.

Part A - Background, impetus, rationale, momentum and support and/or resistance:

• What is the purpose of corporate governance in big business and discuss whether it been successful in our banking and finance sector in Australia?
• Describe what is the purpose of a Royal Commission?
• What were the reasons a Royal Commission into the Australian banking and finance sectors was called?
• Was there any resistance to the Royal Commission being called? If so, who from and why?

Part B - Interim findings, revelations, conflicts of interest and corporate culture:

• What have been the key findings of the Royal Commission to date? Discuss specific examples of banks and/or financial institutions / providers which have been identified as having breached professional and ethical standards
• What conflicts of interest are apparent?
• What impact does corporate culture and remuneration have on the behaviour of those who work within the banking and finance sectors?
• Have there been examples of government organisations and/or banks where the corporate culture has been evaluated as corrupt? Provide specific examples and rationale for why the culture may be corrupt and how improvements in corporate culture can be made. What impact does corporate culture have on an organisation, bank or financial institution?

Part C - Rewards / punishments, recommendations, likely reforms and impact:

• Communicate the impact of the Royal Commission, aligned to notions of the responsibilities of professionals in relation to stakeholder interests / expectation and from the perspective of professional responsibilities in the banking and finance sectors to all stakeholders and why.
• What are the links between rewards and punishment? Consider the role of ASIC, APRA and propose any likely regulations and penalties to be imposed by a failure of corporate governance at the leadership, Board and CEO levels.
• What recommendations should the Commissioner make based on the findings to date?
• What impacts and reforms are likely as a result of the Royal Commission, including discussion of self regulation etc. Will these reforms be positive / negative and who will they most likely impact, and are they the true cause of the current state of the finance and banking sectors?

Part D - Global awareness, globalisation, cross-cultural awareness and comparisons in global financial markets:

• Given that the banking, finance and accounting sectors are global professions, how do you see the ethics and levels of professionalism varying between countries? Are the issues that have been exposed in this Royal Commission unique to Australia, or are they typical issues faced by our profession, regardless of culture, nationality and background? What standards should Australia be upholding based on what mechanisms and controls and how do these compare with overseas? Use some overseas countries as comparative examples, perhaps considering issues such as regulation versus de-regulation, legislation, government involvement / intervention and remuneration. Discuss using some international comparative examples.