The commission is the most notable of the report’s 61 recommendations.
Tabling the report, Senate Economics References Committee chair Mark Bishop said ASIC “appears to miss consistent and clear signs of corporate wrongdoing, putting investors at risk”.
“To be blunt, the committee found ASIC wanting,” said Mr Bishop.
“[ASIC] allowed itself to be lulled into complacency, while corporate wrongdoers continued to abuse their clients’ trust.”
Between 2006 and 2010, the management of CBA were “negligent” and “ignored wrongdoing”, said Mr Bishop.
“Both ASIC and CBA seem to put reports of fraud in the too-hard basket,” he said.
“There was inordinate delay in CBA recognising that advisers in Commonwealth FP were delivering bad advice.”
ASIC was “too slow in recognising the serious problems at Commonwealth FP”, and “ASIC didn’t pay enough attention to whistleblowers”, he said.
CBA “deliberately played down the seriousness” of the behaviour of Commonwealth FP planners in an attempt to limit scrutiny both by the public and by ASIC, said Mr Bishop.
More to come.
