CBA appoints international experts to review panel
A former Clinton Administration adviser and an ex-US Securities Exchange Commission chair will be part of the independent expert panel reviewing Commonwealth Bank's Open Advice Review program.
CBA announced that Promontory Financial Group had been appointed to review the program, after the back accepted conditions imposed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on its financial planning arms, following the failure of its compensation program for clients.
Promontory Financial Australasia chief executive, Dr Jeff Carmichael, has been appointed to lead the team that will review the program's processes, transparency and report on the outcomes.
Eugene Ludwig, who served as US Comptroller of the Currency, under the Clinton Administration, and Mary Schapiro, the 29th chair of the US Securities Exchange Commission, have also been named as members of Promontory's expert panel.
CBA chief executive, Ian Narev, said the Open Advice Review program would provide customers of Commonwealth Financial Planning and Financial Wisdom, who were affected by the scandal that enveloped the bank's financial planning arms, with "support and comfort".
"Jeff Carmichael, Eugene Ludwig and Mary Schapiro are all recognised as international experts on structure, design and effectiveness of regulatory process," he said.
"Their monitoring and periodic reporting is crucial in delivering a program that will provide comfort and assurance to customer and other that the program is delivering an efficient, fair and consistent outcome."
Recommended for you
The top five licensees are demonstrating a “strong recovery” from losses in the first half of the year, and the gap is narrowing between their respective adviser numbers.
With many advisers preparing to retire or sell up, business advisory firm Business Health believes advisers need to take a proactive approach to informing their clients of succession plans.
Retirement commentators have flagged that almost a third of Australians over 50 are unprepared for the longevity of retirement and are falling behind APAC peers in their preparations and advice engagement.
As private markets continue to garner investor interest, Netwealth’s series of private market reports have revealed how much advisers and wealth managers are allocating, as well as a growing attraction to evergreen funds.

