1 Why has there been such a heavy reliance on individual sales incentives in retail banking? Australia’s Royal Commission on Financial Services has uncovered multiple and deep shortcomings in incentive plan design and administration in the country’s major retail banks. Fraudulent and unethical behaviour has been found to be particularly pronounced amongst mortgage brokers, in-house financial advisors and other sales staff eligible for commissions and other individual incentives. At the heart of the problem lies a toxic culture that encourages the sale and upselling of financial products – everything from personal loads to investment deals – with too little regard for client needs and capacity to pay; a culture geared to the interests of shareholders and executives on their own lucrative incentive plans linked to profitability and shareholder returns. The bigger the loan – and the longer it takes to pay it off – the bigger the commission the mortgage broker earns, and the less inclined they will be to exercise due diligence regarding the borrower’s capacity to repay.