ASIC to watch CBA advisers closely

To little too late again.

To fix the CBA/ Fin Wiz problem ASIC needs to have the courage to suspend ALL CBA/Fin Wiz licensees immediately, include all names that the Bank hides behind.

Suspension to be lifted when ALL victims have been fully compensated for what they lost, not some estimate from CBA/Financial Wisdom that based on their modelling the client would have been worse off if invested correctly according to their investment risk profile.

In calculations I have been a party to, the CBA says the client lost nothing, forensic accountant says $400,000 and if borrowings had been secured by unencumbered property instead of a margin loan they could have lost over $1,000,000 on what they could have made if they had been given good advice.

The way CBA and Financial Wisdom have responded is only making matters worse

The only benefit out of this arrangement for anyone will be the hourly charge out rate by the engagement partners of Korda Mentha. (Lets have a guess, 3 staff x $600 per hour X 8 hours per day by 12 months) for what? A report to ASIC and recommendations to CBA et al. to demonstrate compliance. After 12 months then what? Another report . What we have is regulation via consultancy. What has to happen is that all previous claims need to be honoured on the basis that the advice was flawed regardless of whether in fact that was the case, cancel the AFSL and then let CBA reapply and demonstrate that it can satisfy the requirement to provide professional advice for each client dependent upon each clients own circumstances. As for the advisers when the licence is cancelled they can retrain, do something else or get employment in the profession if they are good enough. Lets start worrying about the clients not about the brand of CBA.