Australia’s five largest banks have paid an additional A$21.4 million ($21.2 million) in compensation to investors for losses suffered due to poor financial advice, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced Tuesday.
The five financial services institutions have now paid a total of A$51.4 million to compensate more than 3,000 customers for deficient conduct by their financial advisors, in terms of conflicts of interest and treating clients fairly.
Initially, the five firms paid A$30 million to clients who suffered losses due to deficient advice. The failings were revealed as part of a review of advice compliance and advisor oversight by the ASIC, which was reported in March 2017.
The ASIC expects further compensation to be paid by the firms, but that the amount, and number of affected clients, is not yet known.
“All institutions are reviewing the advice received by customers of their identified high risk advisors,” the ASIC says in a news release. The banks are also working to identify any other advisors that could be considered “high-risk.”