num_pages: 320
description: For Daniel Ziffer and his Australia-wide audience it was a complicated galling and gasp-inducing year at the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.It wasnt just its exhaustive rounds of hearings around the country  Melbourne Brisbane Darwin and Sydney  on topics from farming finance to financial planning. It wasnt even the long list of scandals exposed to a horrified nation  charging fees to dead people blatant conflicts of interest and taking $1 billion from customers in fees that banks were never entitled to.What made it so fascinating so heart-breaking and so enraging was the procession of faces through the witness box and the team of counsel gazing into the dark heart of banking.Tearful victims blank-faced executives hapless regulators and a couple of utter charlatans all had their day in court watched by an audience of millions and revealing  in their stories  the material to justify re-shaping the multi-trillion dollar financial services industry that forms a pillar of Australian life.A Wunch of Bankers covers not just the big shocks but the small moments  lost in the flurry of daily reporting  that reveal how companies have used the law limp enforcement and basic human behaviour to take advantage of customers.Is there a phrase that judges how much life-insurance spruikers in call centres can terrify you about your impending death  and the grief-stricken ruins of an estate youll leave for your bereaved family  while still being legal?Yes there is.Was there a meeting in which a banks executives ignored a warning of Extreme from its chief risk officer to embark on an illegal scheme that accrued $3.6 billion in funds?There was.Mixed among the testimony are snippets from life on the road as the Worlds Oldest Debuting TV Reporter  not just driving five hours one-way to talk to a man who almost blew his brains out over a bank nabbing his $22 million estate but explaining how journalism can only ever give you a glimpse inside complex issues.In A Wunch of Bankers Danel Ziffer bring out the colour and grit of the royal commissions proceedings and explores broader issues raised by the testimony. A mixture of analysis reportage and observations it is densely researched and compellingly written.
language: English
title: A Wunch of Bankers: A Year in the Hayne Royal Commission
publisher: Scribe UK