ifa reported in February that the bank had ramped up efforts to track down some formerly-aligned advisers and their missing paperwork.
According to the sixth report by Promontory Financial Group – which was appointed to oversee the Open Advice Review program – CBA has made “a number of refinements” to its approaches for dealing with cases with limited or no advice documents.
One of those changes includes no longer making calls to customers to ascertain information about possible instances of advice, after CBA experienced “numerous issues”.
According to the report, some customers were “unwilling or reluctant to share information with the bank in a phone call”. Others had difficulties with “providing or recollecting relevant details during the call process”, the report states.
Further, these calls were consuming a “considerable amount of time, without necessarily adding to the facts already available to the bank to progress an assessment”.
“The bank’s revised approach now requires assessors to conduct an initial review of potential instances of advice using the information, files and data it has available,” the report states.
“Based on the information available (including information on the customer’s implemented investments available from the Bank’s systems), assessors then make a determination as to whether the potential instance of advice was likely inappropriate, or whether there was no evidence of inappropriateness.”
The report also shows that as at 31 August 2016, CBA had offered $9.8 million to customers who had suffered a financial loss as a result of poor advice from its aligned advisers.
Of that amount, the bank paid $6.7 million to 476 cases. The remaining $3 million in compensation offered, but not yet paid, related to cases where the offer was still under review.
CBA executive general manager, advice review program Leif Gamertsfelder said the Open Advice Review program is nearing completion.
“Over 90 per cent of all registered cases that required an assessment have now been issued an assessment outcome or have commenced assessment, which is acknowledged by Promontory in its latest report,” he said.
Can only make this comment based on the article but how can you assess if the advice is ‘OK’ if you don’t contact the client to fine out what the outcome was.
Seems like a great way to close of cases where the file went ‘missing’.
Easy to look at a client and see yes they have $300k they are doing ok; what if they started with $3m?
It is not a hard thing to do, write to the client and say we are conducting a review is there anything you would like us to consider.
Not before they collect their bonuses.
So all the CBA Wealth Management execs. that oversaw and encouraged the dodgy advice ride off into the sunset eh???
Yes, many dispersed in the lead-up to the disaster(s) hitting the mainstream/trade media to positions in other bank financial planning divisions, other areas of financial services, etc. One key player decided it was better to take her family back to Europe (a country in the old Yugoslavia) than stay in Australia under the glare of ASIC. I heard she also slightly changed her name slightly. None will be held accountable, unless dragged kicking and screaming before a royal commission.