AMP

A class action has been filed against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia over commissions grandfathered by the Future of Financial Advice reforms.

A lawyer acting for former AMP employee Julia Szlakowski has accused the company of a lack of transparency and has released the findings of the London barrister hired to investigate her sexual harassment allegations against senior executive Boe Pahari, which confirm Szlakowski’s version of events but conclude only some allegations constituted harassment.

Australia's largest financial services institutions have paid or offered to pay more than $882 million to remediate customers affected by their fees for no service conduct, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission has revealed.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has been hit with another class action for allegedly pushing insurance policies with excessive premiums onto customers.

The corporate regulator will not take former AMP chair Catherine Brenner to court after investigating her conduct as part of probes that are expected to lead to at least five cases against the wealth management firm before the end of the year.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has told a parliamentary committee that it plans to bring more than five court proceedings against AMP before the end of the year and has referred a number of investigations into the financial services giant for possible criminal prosecution.

Shine Lawyers is investigating two new class actions against Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac's BT Funds Management over allegedly excessive insurance premiums, a week after filing a similar case against AMP's life insurance arm.

AMP has been hit with a cliass action by a group of financial planners over changes to its buyer of last resort policy last year, which cut the number of authoried advisers and retreated from a promise to buy back their businesses at a price based on a set multiple.

AMP's chief executive Francesco De Ferrari has gone on the offensive against class actions in Australia, saying litigation funders were driving up the cost of doing business, resulting in job losses and increasing costs of financial advice.

An appeals court has vacated orders sending opt out and registration notices to shareholders in a class action against AMP after a successful challenge by the lead plaintiff in a competing class action that was stayed after a high-profile litigation beauty parade last year.