Commbank concedes it should have acted more promptly
Count Financial could have acted more promptly in switching off fees for orphan clients and notifying a breach to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), according to testimony given to the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.
The Commonwealth Bank’s Marianne Perkovic conceded under questioning at the Royal Commission that the company had been made aware of the orphan client issue with respect to Count advisers some 20 months before it actually filed a breach notice with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
She conceded that a report provided by major consultancy, Deloitte, had pointed to the dimensions of the problem but countered that the business wanted to further investigate the extent of the issue.
Perkovic also pointed to the higher than usual number of planner exits from Count at the time of the issue.
When senior counsel assisting the Royal Commission, Michael Hodge QC asked whether Perkovic considered there was not a problem, she responded, “we should have done something in a more timely manner”.
Recommended for you
Despite the government agreeing to replace SOAs with CARs, the FAAA and SIAA believe greater streamlining of documentation is needed for the change to have a positive impact on advisers.
There are “multiple black swan events” threatening the financial advice industry currently, according to the FAAA’s Phil Anderson, potentially running up the compensation bill for advisers.
Former national business growth manager at AMP Advice has taken a new role at Sequoia Financial Group.
With the ESG label often causing confusion among investors, Nanuk Asset Management has encouraged financial advisers to use more plain, specific language with their clients.
