Not banking on committee
Consumer advocate expects little from federal hearing into bank practices
“I guess I can’t say how I view it until I hear from testimony. On the one hand you are hired to sell a product. But is the job such that you have the big hand to attempt to push you to sell a product under what is less than ethical procedures? Then that would be a problem.’’ Malpeque MP Wayne Easter
The president of a consumer advocacy group says a federal hearing into the alleged pressure tactics of Canada’s big banks will not pass muster.
“If it is like any of the government hearings, nothing will come of it,’’ says Stan Buell of Charlottetown, president of the Small Investor Protection Association (SIPA), a national nonprofit organization that aids public awareness of how the investment industry operates.
Malpeque MP Wayne Easter chairs the House of Commons finance committee, which will kick off hearings Monday with testimony from former bank employees ready to blow the whistle on some of the things they have witnessed.
Easter conceded Friday in an interview with The Guardian that there is little the committee can do to hold the banks accountable.
However, the three days of hearings can shed light on what is happening in the banks, and the committee will look at who should be regulating the practices being alleged, notes Easter.
The hearings come in the wake of a series of stories by CBC’s “Go Public”, in which bank employees described questionable practices by some of Canada’s biggest banks. The employees have alleged things like pressure on employees to meet ever-increasing sales targets, signing clients up for services without informing them and forging signatures and i nitials.
Easter was hesitant to comment on the alleged practices.
“I guess I can’t say how I view it until I hear from testimony,’’ he says.
“On the one hand you are hired to sell a product. But is the job such that you have the big hand to attempt to push you to sell a product under what is less than ethical procedures? Then that would be a problem.’’
Buell says in the least the hearings should help reinforce the disturbing allegations.
He says SIPA has for years talked about the Canadian public being deceived by the investment industry in many ways.
“It’s happening,’’ he says. “It’s widespread. It’s affecting many Canadians.’’
Buell is disappointed that the committee is not hearing from victims of wrongdoing or from organizations that represent consumer interests – groups like SIPA, CARP and FAIR Canada.
“Why the secrecy?’’ he asks. “Is the intent to paper over the misdeeds revealed by CBC ‘Go Public’? Shouldn’t government show more concern about what is in the public interest?’’
Easter notes the finance committee received “quite a few calls’’ from former and current bank employees “alleging certain practices at certain banks that are alleged to be questionable.’’