A probe into banking may not be the fix for issues in the sector

Latest figures from KPMG show bank profits reached a record high 7.15 billion dollars in the year to September -- up 17-percent on the year before.

It comes after the Government voted against a select committee inquiry into banking, instead considering whether to order a Commerce Commission market study.

Squirrel Mortgages' David Cunningham says an inquiry probably wouldn't create much change.

He says inquiries from the past such as the telecom, petrol and the building supplies probes achieved nothing.