ANZ rolls out new initiatives

ANZ has announced that it will implement a range of initiatives to enhance the quality of financial planning and customer remediation when things go wrong.

The initiatives mean ANZ will:

• scrap all sales incentives for financial planning bonuses, and only assess performance on customer satisfaction, ANZ values, and risk and compliance standards;
• quickly identify and remove planners who give inappropriate advice;
• only employ new planners with a relevant undergraduate degree and industry certification, and require existing planners to be enrolled in further necessary training by January 2019;
• commit to completing compensation on about 9,000 current inappropriate advice cases by the end of the year; and
• offer an advice review, at no expense, for any of the bank's financial planning customers who may have concerns about their current financial position.

“Financial advice is an important part of the services we offer, but it’s also an area where we’ve failed some of our customers,” said Shayne Elliot, ANZ chief executive officer. “We know it has taken too long for changes to occur, so where we see solutions we will act. That’s why we are getting on with these initiatives now. It is important customers feel confident in the quality and trustworthiness of seeking advice so they can save for retirement and protect the things they care about in a complex system.”

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