NAB/MLC executive denies seeking excuses to retain fees

A former National Australia Bank/MLC executive has denied that attempts were specifically made to identify services which could be said to be provided to clients without an adviser so that a plan service fee (PSF) could continue to be charged.

The former executive, Paul Carter said that while the issue was contemplated over around a three-month period, the banking group ultimately landed in the right place by determining that the PSF should be repaid to members of the affected superannuation fund.

Asked by counsel assisting the Royal Commission, Michael Hodge QC whether the time taken to deal with the issue was really owed to the bank trying to identify a service that might be being provided to an unlinked customers to justify retaining PFS money, Carter disagreed.

“In retrospect I wish we had moved more quickly but where we landed was the right spot,” he said.

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Carter said that there were a number of issues that management were grappling with at the time and that the management team were seeking to understand the issue to determine what the appropriate remediation approach might be.