We did not speak up to put things right
The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry has heard that senior Commonwealth Bank executive, Marianne Perkovic regretted that she had seen behaviours within the organisation which she knew were not right and had not been positioned to fix them.
Perkovic is currently the executive general manager of Commonwealth Private but was previously a senior executive within the bank’s planning businesses. She is a former senior executive within Count Financial.
The Commonwealth Bank chief executive, Matt Comyn acknowledged having received a letter from Perkovic stating her concerns and acknowledged the view of Counsel Assisting the Royal Commission, Rowena Orr QC, that it was troubling Perkovic “felt that she could not speak up loud enough to make things happen”.
The Royal Commission also heard it was Perkovic’s view that the bank had relied too much on the views of legal advisers and consultants rather than doing what staff knew was right in terms of acting in the best interests of clients.
The Royal Commission was told that Perkovic’s letter had expressed her personal disappointment that she felt she had let people down by not standing up to behaviours that she knew were not right.
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