New penalties to deal with dodgy bankers

The government has released details of its crackdown on financial sector misconduct ahead of an interim report of the royal commission into the banking sector.

Corporate and financial sector wrongdoers will face tougher penalties under laws proposed by the Morrison government.

The government on Wednesday released draft laws just days ahead of the expected release of the banking royal commission's interim report.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he would immediately release the report, which has a due date of this Sunday, after it is handed to him.

"That's the plan," he told ABC Radio.

The draft laws now open for public comment seek to:

* increase the maximum jail penalties for certain criminal offences;

* introduce a formula to calculate financial penalties for criminal offences;

* remove jail as a penalty and increasing the financial penalties for all strict and absolute liability offences;

* introduce ordinary criminal offences that sit alongside strict and absolute liability offences

* significantly increase the financial penalties for civil breaches and give courts discretion to strip contraveners of their ill-gotten gains in civil penalty proceedings.

The courts will also be made to prioritise compensation for victims over ordering the payment of financial penalties.

The new measures stem from the ASIC Enforcement Review Task Force, which reported to the government in December last year.


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Source: AAP



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