1 March 2020
Responding to requests from a power of attorney or court-appointed administrator. This industry guideline:
- Explains how financial powers of attorney and court-appointed administrator arrangements apply to banks’ relationships with their customers, and
- Outlines a framework that banks can use to consistently manage requests from attorneys and administrators.
The ABA encourages members to use this guideline to set internal processes, procedures, and policies. While powers of attorney arrangements are an important tool for protecting a customer’s future financial circumstances, some attorneys may misuse this power, either inadvertently or deliberately. Banks have an important role to play in establishing that attorneys are properly authorised to undertake transactions on behalf of their principal. A power of attorney is a legal document that gives someone (called an ‘attorney’) the power to act on behalf of, and in the interests of, the person who grants that power (the ‘principal’) during the principal’s lifetime.
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The ABA acknowledges the release of the 2025-26 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook. The Government’s forecasted $8.4 billion reduction in the deficit over the forward estimates including a $5.4 billion reduction for year’s deficit is welcome. Lower deficits and claimed savings of $20 billion over the next four years is a beginning towards ensuring our national finances are on a more sustainable footing. While this Budget update contains lower forecasts of spending as a share of GDP, the ABA notes the importance of ongoing spending restraint to help reduce inflationary and interest rate pressures. Banks… Read more »