Financial Services and Regulation Minister Joe Hockey is adamant – the Financial Services Reform legislation will be enacted on Monday, October 1.

That may be flying in the face of reality a little. After all, despite Mr Hockey’s assurances that the legislation is broadly supported by the Opposition, it is still likely to endure a stormy passage through the Senate in the next few weeks.

Canberra sources have voiced some disquiet at Mr Hockey’s resolve to force the legislation through. “There’s a lot of lobbying going on,” one source said. “There’s a risk of big compromises to get the FSRB through to meet [Mr Hockey’s] deadline.”

But Mr Hockey has agreed it may not be all easy. He told the Australian Financial review last week that if the legislation is delayed in its passage through the Senate, it could be delayed by 12 months.