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Banking Bad

How Corporate Greed and Broken Governance Failed Australia

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Banking Bad

By: Adele Ferguson
Narrated by: Adele Ferguson
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About this listen

The shocking truth about Australia's financial institutions, as told by the journalist who did most to bring about Australia's banking royal commission. Against all the odds Australia ended up with a banking royal commission. Since hearings began in 2018, revelations about banking and insurance company practices have rocked the nation. Even defenders of the banks have been blindsided.

In Banking Bad, Adele Ferguson traces the origins of the banking scandal to the early 1990s, when buckets of money began pouring into compulsory superannuation funds, set up by Labor Treasurer Paul Keating. Attracted by the increasing cash, banks devised corrupt and questionable practices to get their hands on funds, along with aggressive selling practices that ignored due diligence, trust and honesty. Drawing on her multiple sources who led her to break the story of malpractice – the individuals, business owners, farmers and ordinary people who lost everything - Adele also looks at the falls from grace at the hands of the royal commission of some of the country's most highly ranked captains of industry, the failure of regulators and recommendations of the commissioner, Kenneth Hayne. And she asks where to from here?

©2019 Adele Ferguson (P)2019 Bolinda Publishing Banks & Banking Banking Money Royalty
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A fantastic book that is well read by the author. Facts and stories that are so unbelievable you could never imagine them happening. A great insight into what appears to have been a illusion in fairness and must read for the development of financial discernment.

A truth so unbelievable it reads like fiction

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I could not stop listening. I listened twice through and rarely do that with any book. Brilliantly written and spoken by Adele Ferguson the author.

I can recommend this to anyone who believes in the saying that ‘evil only prevails when good people do nothing’. The book is filled with hero’s and villains and is an example of the media fighting for good rather than quick headlines that tell stories. It’s also an example of how greed and corruption can fester and grow unchecked in powers that control our community. Sadly it is also an example of how Banks have not always lived by the ethos that when a customer chooses a financial institution to entrust their hard earned money with, it is a privilege to be earned and protected, not a right to deceive or connive for profit.

Gripping Read

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Oh wow.. no.. this can't be true.. there's more oh wow. It was impossible not to be moved by the absolutely abhorrent treatment by the banks ... I listened on to Banking Bad. At times I had tears streaming down my face as I drove and endured the horrors of those deprived of life savings or insurance claims..suffering as the banks showed a complete disregard and the regulator looked on. You couldn't write a better movie script, but movie goers would say the story line was too incredulous to believe. These institutions placed themselves so far above us all and they continue to fail us. I felt like a fool recalling discussions with my US colleagues where I blindly upheld the honour our our Australian banking institutions. My mind raised to my super, my bank accounts, why money just reappeared in my ANZ account. It's fair to say my faith in the banking system is shattered. Will it ever change. Extremely well researched and written. A must read or listen.

It's impossible not to be moved ... a must read!

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Exceptional investigative journalism. loved it but was confronted by the facts that came out. a must read for anyone using the financial sector.

So revealing

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This is a great summary of the history and failures of the banking sector in Australia over the past four decades culminating in a Royal Commission which the author was instrumental in achieving. Well worth a listen for leaders in the banking sector, for those interested in what integrity really means, and for those in the broader community with responsibility for delivering essential community services.

Brilliant journalism by Adele Ferguson

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