Panel probes CBA’s public ‘fall from grace’

A PANEL appointed by the bank regulator has interviewed 60 current and former Commonwealth Bank board members and senior executives about issues including executive pay and risk policies as it examines the reputational “fall from grace” of the powerful financial institution.

And it says 20 more interviews are to come as it examines the “key organisational and behavioural factors” that have led to a series of damaging scandals, including poor financial advice in CBA’s wealth arm and problems in its former CommInsure arm.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority yesterday revealed its former chairman Dr John Laker, former competition watchdog chairman Professor Graeme Samuel and former Reserve Bank of Australia board member Jillian Broadbent had delivered a brief interim report.

The panel’s full report is due on April 30.

“The panel is focused on identifying the key organisational and behavioural factors, or combination of factors, that can explain the public ‘fall from grace’ of an otherwise iconic and financially very successful Australian financial institution,” the interim report says. The report reveals a hitlist of areas emerging “from the work to date” the panel is now focusing on — including asking how much influence the CBA board and executives have on the company’s culture.

It is also targeting the leaders’ responsiveness to emerging problems and the “responsiveness of remuneration to risk outcomes”.