CBA refutes senator’s deflection claims
The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has rejected a senator’s claims that it deliberately kept regulators in the dark and played down the seriousness its planning groups’ actions to avoid compensation payments.
In handing down the report into the handling of Commonwealth Financial Planning (CommFP) by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Senator Mark Bishop said the committee was of the view that CBA made concerted efforts to avoid ASIC’s scrutiny and to limit both negative publicity and compensation claims.
“In effect, the CBA managed, for some considerable time, to keep the committee, ASIC and its clients in the dark,” Bishop said.
In response, CBA released a statement refuting Bishop’s accusations and defending its openness during the process.
“The Group takes very seriously the past events at Commonwealth Financial Planning and Financial Wisdom (FWL),” it said.
“The Group has worked openly and transparently with the Senate Committee throughout the inquiry.”
CBA reiterated its apology for the events and said it would review the Senate Inquiry’s recommendations.
“ We have agreed with ASIC to accept licence conditions for CommFP and FWL, to ensure that affected customers are treated consistently, including an offer of up to $5,000 to fund independent advice to affected customers who were part of the CommFP enforceable undertaking and related CommFP and FWL customer remediation programs,” it said.
Money Management’s coverage of the Senate Committee report into the performance of ASIC:
Senate Committee recommends royal commission
Bushby issues dissenting report
ASIC should face regular reviews
Senate report calls for adviser banning powers and increased penalties
Report calls for higher education standards and enshrinement
Expect ASIC to be more rigorous
AUTHOR
Staff Writer
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