Work to be done to rebuild trust, says AMP acting chief Mike Wilkins

Acting chairman Mike Wilkins acknowledges widespread anger, insisting the company is not “hiding from the facts”.

There’s work to be done for AMP, says acting executive chairman Mike Wilkins.

Acting AMP executive chairman Mike Wilkins has declared the troubled financial services major will have its work cut out to rebuild trust of customers, shareholders and regulators.

Mr Wilkins, who took charge of AMP last week following the dramatic exit of Catherine Brenner as chairman, said it was important for the nation’s biggest financial advisory business now focus on the future.

“I understand from this (period) that there’s widespread anger out our situation. We’re not hiding from the facts and we know that we’ve let a lot of people down and we think its really important now we need to focus on the future,” Mr Wilkins told The Australian in an interview.

His comments follow a period of chaos for AMP which has wiped billions of dollars from the company’s market capitalisation and triggered an executive clean out, including former boss Craig Meller.

The move follows revelations from the Hayne financial services royal commission last month around AMP charging customers millions in fees but failing to deliver any services. This in turn shone a light on AMP combative dealings with regulators and the former chairman’s involvement with the preparation of an independent report by law firm Clayton Utz.

AMP on Friday admitted it had misled ASIC and had charged 16,000 customers fees for no service. But AMP said “there is no evidence” to suggest that its board, including Ms Brenner and Mr Meller, acted inappropriately in relation to the preparation of the Clayton Utz legal report investigating the issue.

But it also “strenuously denies” ­it may have committed a criminal offence by misleading regulators.

Mr Wilkins, the former long-serving Insurance Australia Group chief executive took charge as executive chairman last Monday. On Friday AMP named former Commonwealth Bank chief executive David Murray will soon take charge as chairman, while Mr Wilkins will continue as acting chief executive until a permanent CEO is found.

The appointment of Mr Murray is important because it is “the reset we all recognise is necessary for this organisation,” Mr Wilkins told The Australian.

“David brings strong and experienced leadership. Also I think he’s got a much broader view of how financial services fits into the wider community”.

“Certainly I recognise, David does and the board does that more change is necessary if AMP is going to become the sort of organisation that it can be,” Mr Wilkins said.

“I recognise we’ve got a lot of work to do and on a number of fronts we driving pretty hard,” he said.

AMP this week faces shareholders at its annual meeting. Shares in the company last traded on Friday at $4.14, down 20 per cent since the start of January.