AMP

It was "fundamentally wrong" that AMP Financial Planning paid consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers significantly more to review a court-ordered remediation than was paid to customers who suffered loss after an adviser churned life insurance policies for higher commissions, a judge has said.

A judge has ordered two AMP units to pay a total of $24 million after finding the wealth manager acted unconscionably in charging insurance premiums and advice fees to deceased customers.

A judge has questioned AMP Financial Planning over whether it breached court orders to compensate customers after finding the firm failed to prevent a now banned adviser from churning life insurance for higher commissions.

A judge has imposed a $14.5 million penalty on five AMP entities, saying it was “surprising and concerning” that the wealth manager deducted $356,000 from customers' superannuation accounts for advice they never received, despite numerous complaints.

ASIC has told a judge AMP should face a $17.5 million penalty for deducting $356,000 from customers' superannuation accounts for advice they never received, saying the wealth manager had shown "no real contrition" for its conduct.

A judge has raised concerns that AMP Financial Planning has not compensated customers for allegedly failing to prevent life insurance churning, directing the firm to explain the “vanishingly small” number of people who have been remediated.

AMP has admitted two of its units charged customers fees for no service but denied it acted unconscionably in a case brought by the corporate regulator alleging it continued to charge advice fees and life insurance premiums to customers who had died. 

AMP has admitted to contraventions and will face a penalty in ASIC proceedings over fees-for-no-service conduct that allegedly led to upwards of $600,000 being unlawfully withdrawn from superannuation member accounts.

A subsidiary of AMP has settled a retired financial planner's lawsuit accusing the company of using “unfair tactics” to avoid coughing up close to a million dollars owed under a buyout option exercised in November 2019.

Financial services company AMP has lost its bid to de-class representative proceedings brought on behalf of 1.5 million insurance customers.