CBA CEO vows ‘open mind’ in Senate response

In a short statement issued yesterday, the boss of Australia’s largest bank revealed the CBA’s proposed plan of attack in reviewing the Senate committee’s findings.

“The Senate Committee has provided a wide-ranging report, which raised a number of serious issues,” Mr Narev said.

“We are reviewing the report thoroughly, with open minds and a total focus on customers. We expect to provide a detailed response by the end of this week.”

The comments follow reports in the Fairfax newspapers on Saturday that financial advisers licensed through the CBA’s Financial Wisdom dealer group have specifically called for the CEO’s personal intervention.

''Unless Ian Narev comes out this will drag on for a long time and cause a lot of pain,'' one anonymous Financial Wisdom authorised rep reportedly told Fairfax. ''Narev as CEO needs to talk.''