A Wunch of Bankers: a year in the Hayne royal commission

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 the long list of scandals exposed to a horrified nation charging fees to dead people, ignoring 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 allows life-insurance spruikers in call centres to 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 a dodgy scheme that accrued $3.6 billion in funds? There was.

In A Wunch of Bankers, the Worlds Oldest Debuting TV Reporter brings out the colour and grit of the royal commissions proceedings, and explores broader issues raised by the testimony. A compelling mixture of analysis, reportage, and observation, it is a revelatory work.