The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced on Wednesday that National Australia Bank (NAB) is implementing a major remediation program for clients that may have received non-compliant financial advice in recent years.
NAB will be contacting clients who may have received non-compliant advice since 2009, to determine if compensation should be paid, the ASIC says in a statement. The bank will also be providing affected customers with financial assistance to seek professional independent advice.
The ASIC says it has worked with the bank to develop the review and remediation program, and that it will ensure that it provides a fair and effective mechanism for customers to be properly compensated. The program will also be subject to independent scrutiny by an external consultant, which will report its findings to ASIC.
“We’re committed to helping restore customer trust and confidence in the financial planning industry. As part of this, we’re taking a detailed look at our advice business, acknowledging that we may have made mistakes. Where we identify these, we’ll try to make things right,” says Andrew Hagger, NAB Wealth Group executive, in a statement.
“It’s important for our customers that we undertake this review in a thorough manner – and we will. Where customers have suffered loss due to inappropriate advice, we will compensate them for that loss,” Hagger adds.
In additional, an independent customer advocate will work to ensure that the interests of customers remain at the centre of the review, NAB says.
The review comes as part of an ASIC project launched last October to lift standards at the country’s major financial advice providers, amid concerns that some clients may have been charged for advice they never actually received.