SYDNEY (Reuters) - The chairman of Australian financial planner AMP Ltd said on Tuesday the company would cooperate with any criminal prosecutions "diligently, as they're presented to us", after a report called for further action on dozens of misconduct cases.
It came after a government-appointed inquiry excoriated Australia's financial sector for systemic wrongdoing, referring two dozen cases to regulators for possible legal action and making 76 recommendations for changes to the rules of how financial firms make money.
AMP was one of the most affected companies by the Royal Commission inquiry, losing its CEO, chairwoman and several directors after evidence of board-level interference with a supposedly independent report into claims it had been charging customers fees for services not given.
"The commissioner has made it very clear that the law has to be obeyed and there are consequences," said AMP Chairman David Murray, who started in the role in June, in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Asked about possible criminal prosecutions at AMP, Murray said the company "will deal with those diligently as they're presented to us".
"The commissioner ... has referred them to the regulators and we will follow that process as we must," he added.
The Royal Commission's recommendations included forcing financial planners to disclose any fees they get for selling products and banning trailing commissions, changes intended to stop conflicts of interest in sales of financial products.
Murray said AMP's business model was "not structurally changed ... but in the area of advice, we have to work with the industry now, and advisers in the industry, on some important changes so that we can continue to have affordable, reliable and ethical advice."
(Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
