Four Corners Last Night

[icyfroth]

...was an excellent show and the reason why I accidently caught the Q&A fracas which followed.

Last night's Four Corners investigated the CBA' financial planning scandal:

Insider Exposed CBA's Financial Planning Scandal

The man at the centre of the Commonwealth Bank financial planning scandal  that sparked a senate inquiry has lashed out at the bank, claiming it never  properly trained him or supervised his activities. 

Don Nguyen, one of eight CBA financial planners banned by the Australian  Securities and Investments Commission from providing financial advice until  2018, claims nobody at the bank ever said to him: “Don, this is too much, don’t  do this.”

Mr Nguyen allegedly forged signatures, overcharged fees and created  unauthorised investment accounts for his customers without their permission. The  bank paid hundreds of his clients more than $20 million in compensation. 

Banking Bad will also examine a case where CBA denied a dying man,  Noel Stevens, a payout on his life insurance policy. In the final months of his  life, Mr Stevens was forced to fight for what was rightfully his. The case  highlights the inherent conflicts of interest in bank tellers and financial  planners earning a commission for selling bank products.

[cq_tech]

I saw Four Corners too Icy, and I'm still deciding whether I should close my 3X CBA accounts or not, except none of the other banks engender much trust or appeal either.

Perhaps it's time to do as our grandparents did and hide our money under the mattress instead. I'm pretty sure I can get by without the 0.1% interest that the CBA pay me for the privilege of lending my money to others at better than 600x times that disgusting rate.

[imastawka]

I have always done my banking with co-ops.  Never had a problem.  Great service

[debra9275]

I didn't watch it last night, but someone was talking to me about it this morning.  It's pretty bad isn't it?? I imagine all the banks operate in a similar fashion

no wonder they're all making mega profits

it's good to see that so many people are watching the ABC.   , they do have some really great programes & I would hate to see them ever have to change

[spotweldersfriend]

Not a good idea cq_tech.The coalition will just bring in a Mattress Tax.

[icyfroth]

I used to do all my banking with the CBA as a "commonwealth" and trusted Aussie bank since my school days. And then it was privatised.

I was put off when a bank teller tried to sell me an investment plan over the counter for a small inheritance I'd made.

Now I only use it for passing - through transactions and a tiny deposit account.

[twyngwyn]

FSU comment on Four Corners program           6 May 2014

Last night's ABC Four Corners program Banking Bad shone a light on the pressure cooker working environment driven by the sales and targets-driven culture in the Australian finance sector.   It is a culture that pits workers against one another and creates incredible stress for the people who work in the industry. It is a culture that puts the interests of most finance workers and customers last.   Most finance workers genuinely care about providing excellent and professional service to customers and providing advice and products that are in their best interests. Finance workers want to work in an industry that they can be proud of. They want to be able to earn enough to live a decent life and stay out of financial distress, without working hours and hours of unpaid overtime or missing out on time with family and friends because they're working back to make another sale.   They want to be able to do their job without the constant threat of losing that job if they don't follow the script to the letter or aren't aggressive enough in pushing yet another product on the nice old lady who comes in to the branch every Thursday.   It is the conflicted and insecure pay systems imposed by finance sector employers that are the root cause of the cases like those identified in the Four Corners report.   The FSU campaigned for Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) reforms to stop these behaviours - reforms that employers in our industry fought against and continue to fight against. Employers in our industry should guarantee that frontline staff are never forced to choose between meeting a sales target and acting in a customer's best interests.   Our finance sector has the capacity and the profitability to pay decent wages and move away from pay models that don't benefit workers or the customers they serve.   Employers can and should provide secure pay to all finance workers and recognise their professionalism and the value of the work they do.   The Australian finance sector can be much better than this. Let's work together and make it happen.   CBA tellers raise concerns about a statement aired by Four Corners   I would like to let our CBA members know that the union has written to Four Corners this morning to make the point that the union is not aware of any instance where a teller gets a $400 bonus for a single referral to a financial planner. I have asked the program producer to publish a statement on their website that clarifies the information that was broadcast about commissions paid to tellers and corrects any errors. I invite all CBA members to tell their side of the story by getting involved in the FSU's inquiry into targets, workloads and staffing at the Commonwealth Bank, by completing this online submission form. We want to hear from as many CBA workers as possible and we are particularly keen to hear about the lengths workers are going to in order to meet performance expectations. Please take a few minutes to share your story. Leon Carter FSU National Secretary

[icyfroth]

The ABC puts on some excellent shows, Deb, OH and I watch it a lot.

Unfortunately it has lost it's way a bit:

"FOLLOWING the 1996 election, Prime Minister John Howard said of the ABC: "I think one of the weaknesses of the ABC is that it doesn't have a right-wing Phillip Adams." It was a gentle yet serious reminder that our taxpayer-funded national broadcaster is charged with reflecting the diversity of the Australian community under section 6 of its Charter.

Almost 18 years on, the ABC has grown in size but has still refused to address the lack of balance in its vast line-up of journalists - unless you count one hour per week of Counterpoint as balance.

Instead, as Margaret Simons wrote in her 2005 essay, the then director of radio, Sue Howard, had a cartoon on her office wall. Featuring a cage, broken apart, with two people standing nearby, one says "Oh Lord. The Right-Wing Phillip Adams has escaped." Presumably, in humorous ABC circles, a person with right-wing views must be locked up.

From Here

'Eight years later, the ABC under Scott has failed on every measure. The ABC is still not our ABC and the ritual dance of defensiveness has continued. The great danger behind the smugness that has set in at the ABC under Scott's stewardship is clear. By ignoring its compact with the Australian people, its owners, as set out in its Charter, the ABC risks losing legitimacy as a worthy part of our media and cultural landscape. If that happens, the smugness among ABC staff will surely go but so will the ABC.'

[the_great_she_elephant]

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@icyfroth wrote:

The ABC puts on some excellent shows, Deb, OH and I watch it a lot.

Unfortunately it has lost it's way a bit:

"FOLLOWING the 1996 election, Prime Minister John Howard said of the ABC: "I think one of the weaknesses of the ABC is that it doesn't have a right-wing Phillip Adams." It was a gentle yet serious reminder that our taxpayer-funded national broadcaster is charged with reflecting the diversity of the Australian community under section 6 of its Charter.

Almost 18 years on, the ABC has grown in size but has still refused to address the lack of balance in its vast line-up of journalists - unless you count one hour per week of Counterpoint as balance.

Instead, as Margaret Simons wrote in her 2005 essay, the then director of radio, Sue Howard, had a cartoon on her office wall. Featuring a cage, broken apart, with two people standing nearby, one says "Oh Lord. The Right-Wing Phillip Adams has escaped." Presumably, in humorous ABC circles, a person with right-wing views must be locked up.

From Here

'Eight years later, the ABC under Scott has failed on every measure. The ABC is still not our ABC and the ritual dance of defensiveness has continued. The great danger behind the smugness that has set in at the ABC under Scott's stewardship is clear. By ignoring its compact with the Australian people, its owners, as set out in its Charter, the ABC risks losing legitimacy as a worthy part of our media and cultural landscape. If that happens, the smugness among ABC staff will surely go but so will the ABC.'

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Are you suggesting that last nights Four Corners was a biased, unjustified,left wing swipe at the current Government and conservative values? Because if you weren't then I can't for the life of me see the relevance of this post.

[bluecat*dancing]

No, Spot, it would be a Mattress Levy not a tax.