The Federal Government has published the formal terms - the Letters Patent - which contain the high level rules under which the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry will operate.These terms of reference, formally confirmed yesterday in a joint media release from Attorney-General George Brandis and Treasurer Scott Morrison, should come as no surprise.After all, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull outlined on 30 November that his government wanted to "ensure a responsible but comprehensive investigation into how financial institutions have dealt with cases of misconduct in the past, and whether those examples expose issues in terms of the cultural and governance issues in terms of the regulation and supervision of the industry." "It will cover the nation's banks - big and small - wealth managers, superannuation providers, and insurance companies. It will be a comprehensive inquiry."The terms of reference, as released yesterday, include these major points:•    whether any conduct by financial services entity - including directors, officers or employees - might have amounted to misconduct and, if so, whether legal action should be taken;•    whether any conduct practices or behaviour by financial services entities fall below community standards and expectations;•    whether the use of superannuation members' retirement savings by financial services entities does not meet community standards or is not in the best interest of members;•    whether any findings - presumably detrimental - are attributable to particular culture or governance practices of a specific financial services entity or, more generally, in "the relevant industry or relevant subsector"; or if these findings result from practices, including risk management, recruitment and remuneration practices, of a financial services entity or the relevant industry or relevant subsector;•    the effectiveness of methods of redress for consumers who suffer detriment as a result of misconduct by firms in the financial services sector (although the Commission will not be able to direct that compensation be paid);•    the effectiveness and ability of financial services regulators to identify and address misconduct will be scrutinised, and assessments made as to what changes are required to minimise the likelihood of misconduct by financial services firms in future; and•    the Royal Commission is encouraged to look at relevant overseas examples, comparable "international experience, practices and reforms" and to consider the effect of any legislative changes that are recommended.Under the Letters Patent, the Royal Commission is directed not to consider any matters that cross over into macro-prudential policy and regulation, defined as "the structure, role and purpose of financial regulators, that is concerned with containing systemic risk, which can have widespread implications for the financial sector as a whole."COMMENT: Interestingly, "financial services entity" is defined in the letters patent to include not only ADIs, insurance providers, a person or entity required to hold an Australian financial services licence, but also superannuation entities and "a person or entity that acts or holds itself out as acting as an intermediary between borrowers and lenders."That last clause would seem to draw in fintechs and owners of funding and financing platforms.