The chair of the powerful Senate economics references committee has lashed out at the Commonwealth Bank for its "unacceptable" lack of attendance at a Senate inquiry into wrongdoing within its insurance arm CommInsure and accused the bank of bullying.
The rebuke comes as lawyers for CommInsure's former chief medical officer turned whistleblower Dr Benjamin Koh revealed they had lodged a formal request with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to "explore prosecution of certain employees of the bank for their victimisation of Dr Koh".
Under section 156C of the Life Insurance Act, 1995, victimisation of a whistleblower can carry a prison sentence of up to six months.
Senate economics references committee chair Labor senator Chris Ketter said the bank was invited to attend the hearing one week prior to the hearing that took place on April 28 but it refused to make any representatives, including chief executive Ian Narev, available.
"The bank's attempt to hide behind the cover of the budget and avoid proper scrutiny is unacceptable," Senator Ketter said.
Senator Ketter's comments follow the receipt of a letter from the boss of Australia's biggest bank which has been at the centre of major scandals in recent years involving dodgy financial advice and refusing the life insurance claims of dying people.
In the letter, Mr Narev denies he "refused to face scrutiny", instead noting that "only two Labor senators were available to conduct the hearing" and that no Liberal, National, Green and Independent senators were able to attend.
CommInsure is subject to a major investigation by ASIC following an explosive media investigation which found the bank had manipulated medical reports, client files were missing, and legitimate claims were declined.
"The release of this letter and subsequent failure of the bank to appear before the public hearing is another atrocious example of a large organisation bullying those who speak out in the public interest," Senator Ketter said.
"I take no interest in Mr Narev's recount of events as stated in his letter," Senator Ketter said.
Representatives from ASIC including deputy chairman Peter Kell gave evidence at the CommInsure hearing as did Dr Koh, finance services lawyer and insurance expert John Berrill, and representatives from the Financial Rights Legal Centre.
In his letter to Senator Ketter, Mr Narev said Dr Koh's statements CBA head of wealth management Annabel Spring dismissed his concerns as a few bad apples and CommInsure managing director Helen Troup did not take his concerns seriously were incorrect.
"We reject the accusation that CommInsure has an aim of denying legitimate insurance claims. This accusation does not reflect the culture of our business, or the experience of the vast majority of customers who lodge claims," Mr Narev said, who added the "vast majority" of CBA staff did the right thing.
Dr Koh's lawyer Michael Bates said: "It is denied in the strongest terms that Dr Koh misrepresented any of the conversations he had with senior bank employees."
Mr Narev said Dr Koh's testimony he was dismissed because he was a whistleblower was also untrue. Dr Koh has filed a claim for unfair dismissal in the Victorian County Court. Mr Narev said the bank would defend the claim.
Mr Bates said the matter would be dealt with in court.
"Dr Koh is in the position he is now in because he refused to look the other way when he was employed by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. His credibility cannot be questioned and this will become apparent as as this matter works through the courts.
"All of the relevant people, including Mr Ian Narev, Ms Annabel Spring and Ms Helen Troup, amongst others, will have the opportunity to explore the matter in a witness box while under oath, no doubt over a period of days," Mr Bates said.
Mr Bates said his firm Leonard and Welch lawyers had recently lodged a formal request with APRA to investigated the bank for breaches of the whistleblower protections in the Life Insurance Act.
