ASIC fines Commonwealth Bank over financial advice which customers never received

THE corporate watchdog has slugged Commonwealth Bank $3 million after they were found to have charged over 30,000 customers for financial advice they never actually received.

The Commonwealth Bank has been fined by ASIC.

COMMONWEALTH Bank has agreed to pay $3 million after the corporate watchdog found two of the lender’s financial planning arms charged customers millions of dollars for advice they did not receive.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission says Commonwealth Financial Planning and BW Financial Advice could not prove they had advised about 31,500 customers between 2007 and 2015.

RELATED: How the Royal Commission may impact on bank share prices

ASIC says CBA, which has also entered into an enforceable undertaking, has almost finished paying $88.6 million in compensation to customers.

In February, the bank — considered to be Australia’s largest and most profitable — posted a net profit of $4.91 billion for the six months of the financial year.

This new fine comes after it was revealed last year that the bank had breached mandatory reporting requirements on more than 53,000 potentially suspicious transactions.

Matt Comyn replaced the bank’s longstanding CEO, Ian Narev, earlier this month.

Originally published as ASIC fines Commonwealth Bank over financial advice which customers never received