It’s probably going to be harder to get a home loan from today. The banking royal commission handed down its interim report and banks will surely tighten their lending requirements.

Brigitte O’Brien reports.

TRANSCRIPT

Former High Court judge Kenneth Hayne headed the royal commission.

His first interim report handed down this afternoon.

The financial services industry had been expecting a brutal review of its practices.

Already AMP has been forced to pay back hundreds of millions of dollars to customers who were charged fees for advice they did not receive.

Rowena Orr QC, Senior Counsel Assisting the Royal Commission: “Charging clients fees for services that are intentionally and knowingly not provided was both unlawful, and ethically and morally wrong.”

AMP still faces possible criminal charges over lying to regulators.

Banking analysts have been predicting Mr Hayne would apply a rigorous interpretation of responsible lending standards.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is demanding banks repay all government tax cuts.

Pauline Hanson, One Nation Leader: “The people must be compensated for this, and it’s going to cost millions of dollars and they should also pay for royal commission not the tax payer.”

The commission’s final report is expected by February next year.

Brigitte O’Brien, QUT News.