CBA 'pauses all new account openings'
An ASIC investigation alleges CBA and ANZ branches offered super products to customers at the end of general fact-finding processes, which the customers may have mistaken as "personal" advice.And ANZ and Commonwealth Bank, cooperating on more misconduct, are coughing up a community benefit payment of A$1.25 million each.CBA "has paused all new account openings" and "will undertake a review of how Essential Super" is sold by the bank, the bank said in a media release on Friday.The bank announced it had entered into an enforceable undertaking with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission "regarding ASIC's concerns that a small number of customers may potentially have received personal advice in the sale of Essential Super" in the bank's branches. CBA said: "To address this risk, the bank withdrew the sale of Essential Super from branches in October 2017 and entered into the EU to ASIC."ANZ Group Executive Wealth, Alexis George said in a statement that "we have agreed to change the way Smart Choice Super is sold. "While we are confident our staff members have been following a robust compliance process - confirmed through random customer surveys - we acknowledge ASIC's concerns that customers may have regarded this as personal advice, and have agreed to change our distribution process." "ANZ has agreed that by 18 August 2018 its staff members will no longer discuss ANZ Smart Choice Super immediately before, during, after or in conjunction with a needs-based conversation with customers."ANZ said Smart Choice Super will remain available through ANZ's digital channels, anz.com and the ANZ app.