Insurers to appear before royal commission

The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry has released the list of witnesses that will appear before the next round of hearings, commencing in Brisbane on Monday.

“The fourth round of public hearings will focus on issues affecting Australians who live in remote and regional communities, which relate to farming finance, natural disaster insurance, and interactions between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and financial services entities,” said a statement from the commission.

“Further topics may be included and the list above will be updated accordingly before the hearings commence.”

Among them will be insurers Suncorp and Youi, who will take the stand to give evidence on issues arising from Tropical Cyclone Debbie and a number of disastrous bushfires, floods and storms.

Big four banks CBA, NAB and ANZ will also give evidence on the topic of ‘farming finance’ alongside regional banks Rabobank, and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.

The fourth round will relocate to Darwin in the second week of proceedings and turn to the issue of “interactions between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and financial services entities”.

ANZ and ACBF Funeral Plans will also appear as witnesses on this topic, as well as a non-bank licensee called Select AFSL.

Select AFSL describes itself as an “an independent group of Australia’s most successful financial advisers” on its website and also trades as Let’s Insure.