Commonwealth Bank resolves class action suit

The class action by retiree Elizabeth Saunders and 14 others settled on a confidential basis.

Commonwealth Bank has come to a confidential settlement with investors who lost millions of dollars through the actions of an adviser who has since been banned by the corporate regulator from providing financial services.

The class action was led by retiree Elizabeth Saunders against the bank's subsidiary, Commonwealth Financial Planning Ltd (CFP).

She alleged that she lost more than $200,000 when, contrary to her instructions, financial adviser Don Nguyen placed her savings in high-risk investments.

The class action was launched in February and followed an Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) inquiry into Mr Nguyen that found numerous breaches of financial services laws.

The bank agreed last year to a compensation program, in which it would calculate, and amend, the position investors would have been in had they received the appropriate advice.

When approached by BusinessDay, Ben Slade, principal for Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, which ran the class action, said: ''All we can say is the class action was resolved on a confidential basis.''

View the full story in Sydney Morning Herald.