CBA announces chair of financial planning review; Unemployment rate now at 6%; Shares up on open: Midday Roundup

The Commonwealth Bank has appointed retired High Court judge Ian Callinan as chairman of the Independent Review Panel for its recently announced Open Advice Review Program.

The news follows the bank setting up a customer compensation scheme after CBA financial planners were accused of putting clients’ money into risky investments without their permission. A recent Senate inquiry recommended a royal commission investigate the matter.

Commonwealth Bank chief executive Ian Narev praised Callinan’s approach to justice and fair outcomes.

“The Independent Review Panel will provide comfort to customers that if they disagree with the assessment, then independent and esteemed experts will determine the right outcome to which the Bank will be bound,” he said.

“Mr Callinan will also have a broad mandate to provide advice to me about the fair and effective operation of the program. This appointment is crucial to ensure the independence and integrity of the process.”

The Open Advice Review Program was set up in response to allegations customers received poor financial advice between September 2003 and July 2012.

Unemployment rate now at 6%

Australia’s unemployment rate has risen to 6%, up from 5.9% last month according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This is despite almost 16,000 jobs being added.

ACCI chief executive Kate Carnell said in a statement the underutilisation rate for people aged 15-24 in the workforce had risen by almost three percentage points over the last two years to May.

“We all know these figures jump around a bit, but for unemployment to climb by 20,300 in a month is a concern,” said Carnell.

“The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been trying to draw attention to a stagnation in the labour market for some time now, especially in relation to younger Australians,” she said.  

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The S&P/ASX200 Benchmark was up 18.2 points to 5482.6 points at 11:51am AEST. On Thursday, the Dow Jones closed down 0.42%, falling 70.54 points to 16,915.07 points.