Commonwealth Bank response to Four Corners & Fairfax investigation

Mr Noel Stevens
We respect the decision of the Court of Appeal, and wish to express our sympathy for the tragic circumstances of the customer and their family.

We acknowledge that the most appropriate action in this case would have been for the customer to have remained with their existing policy. If the Commonwealth Bank had been aware of all relevant circumstances, there would have been no reason for the customer to terminate his existing policy.

Rollo Sherriff

Rollo Sheriff is no longer an adviser at Financial Wisdom.  After a review of his client files post his resignation in February 2010, Financial Wisdom notified ASIC and Mr Sherriff’s status is now a matter for ASIC. 

All of Mr Sherriff’s clients have been reviewed and where losses have been suffered, these clients have been compensated by Financial Wisdom, totalling approximately $7 million*.

Commonwealth Financial Planning
We deeply regret the events that occurred in our financial planning business where the behaviour of a number of advisers was unacceptable.

We acknowledge we should have identified the problems earlier, and we should have acted more quickly once issues were found.

We have apologised to our customers for these events and we have worked with customers to put things right. Customers who experienced losses as a result of inappropriate advice have been remediated. We continue to work with the small number of customers whose cases remain unresolved.

We have significantly transformed our business as a result of these events. We have changed the management team and structure, the culture, the processes and the systems. The substantial investment we have made has resulted in major improvements in the business and demonstrates our determination to ensure that these regrettable events are never repeated.

If any of our customers are concerned, please contact us on 1800 508 169 (8.30am - 5.00pm Monday to Friday).

*This number is inclusive in the $51 million stated on page 9 of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s submission to the Senate Economics Reference Committee dated 11 November 2013.