The Banking Royal Commission should summons Julia Gillard to give evidence not only on the extremely suspicious way she appointed the former ASIC Chairman Greg Medcraft but also why she would appoint someone like him in the first place and was his Labor Party membership a factor.
Greg Medcraft worked for Societe Generale in the US when there were allegations of fraudulent conduct and breaches of corporate laws which is exactly what has happened with the banks in Australia under his watch as ASIC Chairman.
Mr Medcraft was also on the receiving end of a “2004 US sex discrimination lawsuit” and allegedly paid for clients to attend the “New York strip club Scores”. Now where have we heard the name “Scores” before. Yep, Kevin Rudd’s old haunt.
There are also many unanswered questions regarding Greg Medcraft’s close relationship with AMP’s head lawyer Brian Salter, who was best man at Greg Medcraft’s wedding and who has been stood aside at AMP because of revelations at the Royal Commission and could face possible criminal charges.
The former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has done a recent interview saying “I made some errors” and one of her biggest errors is selling the Australian public a dud in appointing Greg Medcraft who in his 7 years as ASIC Chairman was a total failure who oversaw widespread fraud and theft in the banking industry as the Royal Commission is showing.
Greg Medcraft’s dereliction of duty as ASIC Chairman has easily cost thousands of bank customers millions of dollars.
The Age – 2011 – The secret process for appointing Greg Medcraft
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard granted an exemption from her government’s policy promising ”open and merit-based” senior public sector appointments to allow former banking executive Greg Medcraft to head Australia’s corporate regulator without first advertising the role.
Treasurer Wayne Swan on Thursday refused to answer questions about the process of appointing Mr Medcraft, a former ALP member, to the $700,000-a-year role as chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in May.
The revelation comes after The Age yesterday reported the New York division of French bank Societe Generale – overseen by Mr Medcraft for many years – has been accused by the US government of breaking corporate laws and engaging in misconduct.
Mr Medcraft’s former Societe Generale division is being pursued in court by the US Federal Housing Agency over allegations it was negligent, did shoddy due diligence and seriously misled American loan providers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The US agency lodged a lawsuit in New York’s district court in September.
It follows a 2008 class action in which seven former Societe Generale employees alleged the bank’s US-based securitisation business engaged in fraudulent conduct between 2005 and 2008. Mr Medcraft, who left Societe Generale in late 2007, is not named in either lawsuit. However, he oversaw the US residential mortgage-backed securities businesses during the period it is alleged to have engaged in misconduct and breached corporate laws.
Mr Medcraft was also named in a 2004 US sex discrimination lawsuit that alleged he approved $US4000 to pay for clients to attend New York strip club Scores, commented on a woman’s legs and discriminated against an employee. (Click here to read more)
The Guardian has reported:
The Greens have written to request the auditor general investigate the declaration of interest and conflict of interest policies of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
The letter says the investigation is necessary after concerns “raised in the media in regards to the potential conflicts of interests between former Asic chairman Greg Medcraft and the, currently stood aside, senior counsel for AMP, Brian Salter.”
The banking royal commission heard last week that Salter had helped to draft an “independent” report on AMP – written by his former firm Clayton Utz – about AMP’s practice of charging customers fees without providing any service, before the report was handed to the regulator.
The commission heard the report had gone through 25 drafts, after more than 700 emails were exchanged between AMP and Clayton Utz, and that Salter had revised the wording of the report to remove the name of AMP’s chief executive, Craig Meller.
Salter was stood aside last week as AMP’s general counsel, a position he has held since 2008.
He was also stood aside as a member of ASIC’s external Financial Services and Credit Panel whose members advise ASIC on whether to make banning orders against financial planners. Salter – who was best man at Medcraft’s wedding – had interactions with ASIC commissioners as a member of that advisory panel. (Click here to read more)
ASIC Chairman resigns only weeks before the Banking Royal Commission announced
Greg Medcraft retired on the 12th of November 2017 which is just 2 weeks before Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the government would have a Banking Royal Commission. The Banking Royal Commission was a political issue for months leading up to the announcement by the government and Greg Medcraft would have known if a Banking Royal Commission was held he would be in a lot of trouble and his position as ASIC Chairman would be untenable. So, I wonder if that played a part in his decision to retire.
Mr Medcraft is another that needs to be summoned to give evidence at the Banking Royal Commission. In fact with what is written above you could just about justify having a Royal Commission into Greg Medcraft by himself.
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Categories: Julia Gillard, Royal Commission
Read ur HS one just now. This is interesting. friend here in Geelong told me his brother is high up (No.2) in the AWU. At the time Gillard was in strife about her AWU shenanigans, the brother said: multiply what you hear about her x 10, and you are somewhere near it.
Gaz
The stuff that Gillard was up to was extremely crooked in the AWU fraud. The AWU people know it like your friend in Geelong. Gillard & Wilson would’ve been charged & probably jailed if this didn’t involve the unions & the Labor Party. Plus Gillard being Prime Minister helped a lot too, in being protected.
Todays post only confirms what is already known-the Banks[ Big Business] and Unions colluded in 2008 to save themselves as the G.F.C. impacted Australia.In 2011 the criminal cover up and other unethical activities like this one soared as they realised how bad the G.F.C. was really going to be.It continues today unchanged from the plans put into place in 2008-2011.More to come,you can be sure and past & present P.M.’s will have to answer questions in the long run.
The cynic in me repeatedly tells me that this woman will never face judgement for her many (I know, I have to say ‘alleged’) crimes because from way, way back, she has adopted what I’ll call ‘the General Motors defence’ – that is, she knows she is safe and will remain so because if she ever does face prosecution, too many others know that she will bring them down with her.
Wouldn’t surprise me what this woman was up to at any given time – most hated woman in Australia
Tom, you’ve been bugging my living room again. Which is to say – I believe you are absolutely on the money.
Wayne Swann was also involved in placing Medcraft – and one had a long letter from Bernie Ripoll who had oversight at the time for the ASIC…one complained to John Faulkner at the time about the appointment, and he had also complained in parliament about the sleight of hand appointment…he John Faulkner voiced my concerns on the floor in Federal Parliament, clearly it is prudent in Australia to employ a Banker to have oversight over the Banks and the big end of town, it ensures that corrupt practices can proceed unabated…also ASIC will not go after any company such as SMC as it is a cop out NSW corporate body…sic. the WestConnex…
Gillard’s track record for “captain’s picks” could keep Royal Commissioners busy for decades.
As her old buddy Bernard Murphy said, when he heard she’d snatched the Prime Ministership from KRudd …. “You bloody beauty Julia!!”
Then he, as a garden-variety solicitor, inexplicably finds himself with lifetime tenure as a Federal Judge. ‘You beauty’ indeed.
She paid off a lot of her old cronies who covered up for her with such generous appointments, but don’t hold your breath waiting for a Royal Commission to bring justice to the Australian People.
We saw the result of the multi-million-dollar TURC against union corruption. Gallons of whitewash splashing in all directions … and not a single criminal prosecution of the biggest crooks in the country.
They might pick off a few low-hanging fruit this time, just to mollify media interest, but will the real crooks do jail time? … have their assets seized and those cheated paid compensation?
Turnbull will see to it that none of that happens, not if he can help it. Posturing for a media release is as about as far as he’d want to stick his neck out.
The original Hollow Man.
Tom and odeah, I couldn’t agree with with you more. Everyone of mature age must know by now that the roots and branches of all government agencies, State and Federal, are so corrupted by liars and cheats that justice will never be done other than to the “few” selected to be hung out dry. Look at the US political system we are being exposed to presently, where the elite mandarins in the public service consider themselves utterly untouchable, and can do or say anything they wish that suites there political/personal views. We can assume that we are the same, but will we see any major top to bottom changes to the system? Of course not, because the system is too deeply corrupted.
Quote, ” was his Labor Party membership a factor.”Unquote.
L.O.L. Is the Pope a Catholic ???? My experience with the Labor crowd in my state, it would most certainly have a massive bearing on his appointment, The Labor party has always taken good care of it’s mates and contributors.
Gillard’s link to the Clinton Foundation needs urgent investigation as well. She and Rudd forked over many millions to this slush fund where most of the money was spent on private jets and 5 star hotels for Bill and Hillary. Gillard left politics to work for the Clinton Foundation and on the failed Hillary campaign.
The forensic accountants who have tried to investigate this slush fund have found hundreds of millions were raised but only a few cents in the dollar were actually spent on the poor. The Clinton Foundation is said to have raised over a billion dollars for Haiti. Tell the starving people in Haiti that. They want to lynch the Clinton’s for their lies.
Gillard has to be summoned by the Banking Royal Commission over this shocking appointment of this individual as ASIC Chairman when she was Prime Minister. ASIC has basically aided & abetted the banks massive crooked behavior & ASIC must be investigated by the Federal Police. As for Gillard if she takes the stand in the Banking Royal Commission, she will have been asked to give evidence at 2 Royal Commissions!. The other one involved the AWU Fraud at the Union Royal Commission in 2014. Julia Gillard will go down as the most corrupt Prime Minister in Australia’s history.
Kurt if you think Julia Gillard is the most corrupt PM in Australian history, you’re wrong. She was involved in shoddy antics but she doesn’t come close to being the most corrupt. Both Turnbull & Shorten easily surpass her criminal activities including rape. And sticking to the topic of the article, Turnbull has just appointed another crooked ASIC Chairman. James Shipton was involved in the 1MDB Fraud while working for Goldman Sachs. The new PM of Malaysia has already raised his & ANZ’s involvement in this Fraud. Hopefully Malaysia during its re-investigation of this crime takes a closer look at ANZ’s & Shipton’s involvement.