Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697646351590.pdf (Australia)
Submission in support of Banking Amendment (Deposits) Bi/12020 I support the Banking Amendment (Deposits) Bill 2020 because it will make Banking Act 1959 legislation clearer to confirm that money deposited in personal bank accounts w ill be safe from confiscation by banks in t imes of financial crisis.

Who Am I I am an Australian Permanent Resident living in Sydney, NSW.

I work as a medical practitioner and I am the sole provider for my wife, an Austra lian citizen, and two children.
Our personal savings are kept in a bank deposit account and I find it alarming that current legislation potentially allows someone to take a portion of our personal savings without our consent.

What the Bill does A Bail-in is when during an economic crisis, a bank which is under financial pressure can take money held in private bank accounts and convert it to shares in the bank.
The Financial Sector Legislation Amendment (Crisis Powers and Other Measures) Act 2018 was written to ensure that, shou ld a catastrophic event occur, the damage would accrue, not to the banks, but to their customers.

The current bi ll (Banking Amendment (Deposits) Bill 2020) w ill remove doubt as to the meaning and intent of various provisions in the Banking Act 1959 in relation to bail-in.
These provisions in their current formulation are vague enough to be interpreted as allowing the conversion and write-off of personal deposit accounts.

Summary of Key Provisions of the Bill Section 4 of the bill clarifies that deposit accounts are not included in reference to an instrument in the Banking Act 1959.

22 23 24 2s 4 After subsection 11CAB(1) lnsen: ( IA) To avoid doubt, the reference to an insmtment in subsection ( l) does not include a deposit accOLmt.
Figure 1: Section 4 Section 5 of the bill confirms that nothing in the Banking Act 1959 or any other Commonwealth legislation gives APRA power to implement, authorise or direct the confiscation of a deposit account for the purpose of a bail-in.
Banking Amendment (Deposits) Bill 2020Submission 183 26 27 28 29 30 At the end of Subdivision B of Division 1A of Part II Add: It CAD No bail-ins of deposit accounts (I) Nothing in this Act or any other Commonwealth law gives APRA power (whether by way of a prudential standard or otherwise) to: (a) implement a bail-in of deposit accounts; or (b) authorise or direct the implementation ofa bai I-in of deposit accounts; or (c) authorise or direct the amendment of any contract, agreement or other instrument to provide for a bail-in of deposit accounts.
Figure 2: Section 5 Why I support the Bill I support the Banking Amendment (Deposits) Bill 2020 because it w ill make the Banking Act 1959 legislation clearer and ensure that money deposited in personal bank accounts will be safe from confiscation in the case of a bail-in.

It is unethical to take somebody's personal property for any reason w ithout their permission.

Such an action is called theft.


The vague provisions in the Banking Act 1959 could potentially be interpreted to allow banks to confiscate my personal savings from a bank account I hold with them .

Any individual in a financial crisis is not allowed to steal from other individuals just because he is in a difficult situation, nor is there any reason to allow banks the privilege of doing so.

For an analogous situation to a bank, imagine a storage facility where I store my private possessions.
If the storage company were to experience financial difficult ies, it would not give them the right to confiscate half my possessions in order to alleviate its financial difficulties.

I store my money in a private bank account to ensure that it is stored safely and securely.

If my money is not secure in a bank account, where is it secure?

Better Safe than Sorry If the law is not crystal clear, it leaves open the possibility for interpretation in a way which was not intended.
Where there is an opportunity to eliminate vague sections of legislation, there is no detriment to doing so and on ly benefit.

Kind regards 2 Banking Amendment (Deposits) Bill 2020Submission 183