WEBVTT - ASIC to probe banks behind failed Firmus float fail

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<v Speaker 1>Today's biggest news from The Australian. I'm Claire Harvey with

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<v Speaker 1>The Front's afternoon headlines. The bankers who got everyone excited

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<v Speaker 1>about the float of data centre builder Firmus only to

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<v Speaker 1>have it blow up in their faces have a new problem.

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<v Speaker 1>The corporate watchdog is on the case. The Australian Securities

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<v Speaker 1>and Investments Commission, ASIC, is probing the actions of the

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<v Speaker 1>bankers behind the canned multi-billion dollar stock market float of Firmus.

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<v Speaker 1>ASIC Chair Sarah Court told a Senate committee she's making, quote,

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<v Speaker 1>targeted inquiries of the joint leader managers of the Firmus IPO.

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<v Speaker 1>That's Bank of America, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, along

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<v Speaker 1>with broker Morgans. Firmus, co-founded by billionaire Oliver Curtis, was

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<v Speaker 1>supposed to float on the ASX last week, but the

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<v Speaker 1>initial public offering was sensationally cancelled when investors balked at

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<v Speaker 1>the $ 11 share price. That's left many in the markets

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<v Speaker 1>wondering about the actions of the banks, who stood to

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<v Speaker 1>make hundreds of millions of dollars in fees from the float.

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<v Speaker 1>The tax commissioner has admitted he didn't quite get how

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<v Speaker 1>businesses use credit cards before the ATO brought in a

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<v Speaker 1>ban on plastic. Rob Heffron told the Senate committee he'd, quote,

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<v Speaker 1>jumped to conclusions and assumed, wrongly, that only struggling taxpayers

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<v Speaker 1>would use credit cards to pay their bills. Now he

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<v Speaker 1>says he understands what small business people have been screaming

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<v Speaker 1>since the ban was suddenly dropped on them earlier this month.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, many businesses use credit cards to manage their

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<v Speaker 1>cash flow, making use of interest-free periods to pay their

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<v Speaker 1>tax bill and then pay it off in an orderly way.

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<v Speaker 1>The issue has really blown up in the government's face,

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<v Speaker 1>initially a cost-of-living relief measure pushed by Jim Chalmers. The

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<v Speaker 1>idea was to ban any organisation from charging surcharges on

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<v Speaker 1>card payments. For many businesses, that meant reorganising their pricing

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<v Speaker 1>so that the cost of card transactions was wrapped up

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<v Speaker 1>in the overall price of a good or service. But

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<v Speaker 1>the tax office decided that meant it could no longer

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<v Speaker 1>accept card payments at all because it wouldn't be right

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<v Speaker 1>to fund credit surcharges from the public purse. The federal

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<v Speaker 1>government declared it would push the change to mid-next year

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<v Speaker 1>and that in the meantime, taxpayers will pay the surcharge.

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<v Speaker 1>Now Rob Heffron says he's learned his lesson. Next time

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<v Speaker 1>he'll actually ask stakeholders what they think before enacting such

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<v Speaker 1>a massive change.

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<v Speaker 2>The experience we have now, if we'd, I guess if

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<v Speaker 2>we had the similar thing happen to us again, I

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<v Speaker 2>think we'd be more active in trying to engage with

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<v Speaker 2>people earlier and rather from the point of view here's

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<v Speaker 2>a solution, you have now time to adjust, actually engage

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<v Speaker 2>in the problem-solving activity itself.

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<v Speaker 1>Check out those stories live right now at theaustralian.com.au. And

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<v Speaker 1>come back to the front first thing in the morning

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<v Speaker 1>for our look at what on earth just happened in

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<v Speaker 1>the Israeli election and how Benjamin Netanyahu just keeps on

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<v Speaker 1>keeping on. That's right here, Friday morning.