Colonial and CBA conflicted remuneration case dismissed

29 September 2022
| By Laura Dew |
image
image image
expand image

Action against Colonial First State and Commonwealth Bank alleging breaches of conflicted remuneration laws have been dismissed by the Federal Court.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) had alleged breaches of conflicted remuneration laws but the Federal Court found Colonial did not breach the law when it agreed to pay CBA to distribute Essential Super.

CBA staff signed up over 390,000 individuals to the Essential Super product between July 2013 and June 2019.

Justice Anderson found the payments made by Colonial to CBA did not constitute benefits within the definition of ‘conflicted remuneration’ and that the statutory context of the definition focused on situations such as where a financial adviser had a financial incentive.

The case had been used as a case study during the Hayne Royal Commission.

ASIC deputy chair, Sarah Court, said: “ASIC pursued this case because we were concerned that the arrangements between Colonial and CBA had the potential to influence the choice of financial product recommended to retail clients or the advice given to retail clients. ASIC will carefully consider the judgment.”

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest developments in Super Review! Anytime, Anywhere!

Grant Banner

From my perspective, 40- 50% of people are likely going to be deeply unhappy about how long they actually live. ...

1 year 8 months ago
Kevin Gorman

Super director remuneration ...

1 year 8 months ago
Anthony Asher

No doubt true, but most of it is still because over 45’s have been upgrading their houses with 30 year mortgages. Money ...

1 year 8 months ago

Australia’s superannuation sector has expanded strongly over the June quarter, with assets, contributions and benefit payments all recording notable increases....

19 minutes ago

The Super Members Council (SMC) has called on the government to urgently legislate payday super, warning that delays will further undermine the retirement savings of Aust...

34 minutes ago

ASFA has highlighted that regulation should not be “set and forget” and calls for a modernised test to meet future needs....

49 minutes ago

TOP PERFORMING FUNDS

ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
74.26 3 y p.a(%)
3