Banking royal commission: Finally, CBA’s lost voices are heard

CEO Matt Comyn performed well, but there was no countering the devastating comments from some of his top executives.

Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn arrives at the royal commission hearings. Pic; AAP

A measured performance by Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn has been overshadowed by the emergence of CBA’s lost voices — those whose questioning of the bank’s dominant finance function fell on deaf ears.

Overall, Comyn acquitted himself well, giving thoughtful answers to questions posed by senior counsel assisting Rowena Orr.

The CBA chief is nothing if not diligent — he would have rehearsed the likely thrust of Orr’s inquisition until exhaustion set in.

Even so, there was no countering the devastating responses from some of his top 500 bankers after Comyn asked them last May for a single page of reflections on an enclosed hard copy of the APRA report on CBA’s cultural shortcomings.

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The CBA chief, who had only been in the top job for a month, got the full slate of 500 responses.

The reaction of group auditor Mark Worthington was brutal.

Worthington said there wasn’t much in the APRA report that hadn’t already been said by the audit function.

Of course, he could have substituted the word “ignored” for “said”, but chose not to.

Comyn had to agree with Orr when she asked him if Worthington was raising concerns that the audit’s independent voice had not been heard.

Commonwealth Private boss Marianne Perkovic, who was roasted for “dissembling” in her answers when she appeared before the royal commission in April, said her brand and reputation had been put in the firing line.

Perkovic said she felt disappointed, knowing she had let customers down by not “standing up” to certain behaviour.

Comyn said the answer “troubled” him.

Most respondents, he said, discussed how they could have responded differently in the same circumstances, and how too much reliance was placed on the views of lawyers, the all-powerful finance function, and consultants.

Problems were only fixed when a mandatory compliance order was made.

Good intentions, as opposed to real action, tended to dominate, with too much trust placed in co-workers and a general lack of urgency when it came to resolving issues.

Larissa Shafir, head of compliance in retail banking services, said in her response that the voice of finance prevailed over risk.

She also felt aggrieved that the board and executive committee did not challenge each other and hold themselves to account.

Comyn said Shafir was “strident” in her views, but the sense of disappointment in the top 500 was “well-held and appropriate”.

Asked how the bank could now hold people accountable, the CBA boss said he had made seven new appointments to his executive team, with the need for constructive challenge one of the overriding themes.

He said there was too much “fragility” in the face of criticism.

CBA’s lost voices are now being heard as Comyn and the board seek a complete cultural makeover.

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