The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has paused preparations to exit its wealth management and mortgage broking business.
The suspension follows a statement from the bank’s chief executive last week, which said the bank was giving priority to the recommendations made in the Royal Commission report – that slammed Australia’s financial services industry.
“This remains my first priority as chief executive,” Matt Comyn said.
“The outcomes examined through the Royal Commission were confronting, and the failures that led to these outcomes are simply unacceptable.
“Many of the recommendations require direct changes to our business and are already underway. Some of them will require action by the government, regulators and industry bodies before we can implement them,” he added.
Where the money is going
CBA added that A$1.4bn (£780m, $1bn, €910m) had already either been spent or provisioned to address the issues it is facing.
Of that amount, A$610m had already been paid or set aside for refunds to its customers about issues such as advice quality and fees for no service.
Additionally, A$650m had been earmarked to improve the bank’s internal processes; and A$200m as an indemnity provision for wealth management-related remediations.
