On Thursday, 1 September, Fairfax Media emailed us to ask questions about three of our customers.  Out of respect for our customers’ privacy, we are limited in what we will say, but have provided Fairfax Media some detail about the processes we use in resolving customers’ concerns.

“97-year-old fights CBA for compensation after shoddy advice from dodgy Don Nguyen” Fairfax Media, 2 September 2016

In response to the request for information about “Mrs K”, Leif Gamertsfelder, Executive General Manager, Advice Review program said:

We have worked to resolve the concerns of our financial advice customers and we are confident in our people and processes. 

We respect the privacy of our customers and are limited in what we can say about individual customers. However, in this case we have already paid compensation for the poor advice the customer received. They have asked us to look at the advice again through the Open Advice Review program and that review is well progressed. When the assessment is completed, the customer will also have access to independent advice at no cost to them from an Independent Customer Advocate.

Examining this individual customer’s circumstances at the time the advice was provided has been a very complex process with investments being made in her personal capacity and through a corporate structure. We have kept in regular contact with her independent adviser throughout the process.

We called the customer’s independent adviser in late August, before being contacted by Fairfax Media, to let them know we are currently finalising our assessment of their advice and will provide this to them very soon. 

The Open Advice Review program’s processes are thorough and fair and the subject of detailed independent reporting, which is openly available for anyone to see. By its design it will take time, we have been transparent about this fact. We keep customers informed of the program’s progress and we thank them for their patience. 

The reviews completed to date have shown that in the vast majority of cases the advice provided was appropriate but where we have done wrong we are apologising and putting it right. We are on track to issue all remaining assessments to customers by the end of 2016.

“Cancer victim battles CBA for mortgage relief” Fairfax Media, 3 September 2016

In response to the request for information about Rainer Mathews, Andrew Whitechurch, Executive General Manager, Retail, Bankwest said:

When customers face financial difficulties, our overriding priority is to work closely with them on a case-by-case basis to improve their financial position.

In doing so, we will try and do everything we possibly can to help customers during challenging times, as this is in everyone's best interests. 

This includes supporting customers in hardship based on their current situation which may include deferring payments and extending terms. 

We continually review our policies and procedures in this area, improving communication and the support we provide to our customers.

In response to the request for information about Bob Nissen, Leif Gamertsfelder, Executive General Manager, Advice Review program said:

With these financial advice customers, we have worked to resolve their concerns and we are confident in our people and processes. We understand customers can sometimes find it hard to deal with large organisations and we are continuing our work to make things easier.

We respect the privacy of our customers and are limited in what we can say about individual customers. However, in this case we have already paid compensation for the poor advice they received. They have asked us to look at the advice again through the Open Advice Review program and that review is well progressed. When the assessment is completed, the customers will also have access to independent advice at no cost to them from an Independent Customer Advocate.

The Open Advice Review program is designed to give confidence to customers if their advice was appropriate, and pay compensation to customers where it’s due. Its processes are thorough and fair and the subject of detailed independent reporting, which is openly available for anyone to see.

By its design it will take time, we have been transparent about this fact. We keep customers informed of the program’s progress and we thank them for their patience.

We are on track to issue all remaining assessments to customers by the end of 2016.