Australia boosts regulator funding after bank scandals

Sydney

AUSTRALIA on Wednesday boosted funding to the corporate regulator by A$127.2 million (S$133 million) and appointed a special prosecutor to investigate financial crime, in sweeping reforms prompted by public outrage over numerous bank scandals.

The nation's major banks - which regularly rake in multi-billion-dollar profits - have been under scrutiny following a series of consumer fraud allegations involving financial planning as well as claims of interbank lending interest rate rigging.