The Australian Greens finance spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, said today that the “ugly spectacle” of Westpac and ANZ traders joking about their apparent rigging of the bank bill swap rate (BBSR) strengthened the case for a Royal Commission in the financial services sector.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “Trader’s antics are no joke. This sort of callous disregard for the harm being caused reflects a deeper cultural problem at the heart of the financial sector.

The Australian Greens have today reiterated their call for a Royal Commission into the financial services sector and the culture generated within vertically integrated banking models.

Today the Senate voted against the motion lodged by Greens Finance spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, calling on the government to establish a Royal Commission into misconduct within the financial services sector.

The Greens spokesperson for Consumer Affairs, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, says that revelations that ANZ charged 8,500 clients for a service they never received shows that more needs to be done to root out problems in the sector.

Greens spokesperson for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Small Business, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, says that today’s revelations in the Fairfax papers about scandals in the NAB financial advice arm is the last straw for the Government in failing to regulate and properly investigate the sector.