TD Bank says it is reviewing concerns about its sales practices in light of reports that some employees allegedly broke the law in order to meet sales targets and keep their jobs.
Read: Banks under FCAC microscope after allegations of upselling
CEO Bharat Masrani says the bank received “a few hundred complaints” last year regarding its sales practices that were escalated.
Read: Investor complaints up 17% in 2016: OBSI
Masrani says fewer than 100 of those complaints affecting customers had compliance concerns, and all of them were investigated and addressed.
Read: Tellers are not advisors, big banks clarify
He made his comments during the bank’s annual shareholder meeting, several weeks after the CBC reported that unnamed bank employees alleged they used aggressive, and in some cases illegal, sales practices.
But internal escalation isn’t enough for some, like the Small Investor Protection Association (SIPA). In a release, the organization calls on the federal government to hold a public inquiry calling private individuals for their testimony, instead of using reports by industry or regulators that rely on guidance and self-regulation.
Read: Investors want a best interest standard
Further, SIPA says it will soon publish a report on its website revealing “irrefutable facts to substantiate that [deception] is widespread across the financial industry and must be dealt with by our elected officials.”
After the bank’s shareholder meeting, Masrani told reporters that the bank has enlisted the help of an outside company to review its business in light of the reports, but he declined to name the firm.
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada is investigating business practices in the federally regulated financial sector following the CBC reports.
Also read:
Ontario to introduce legislation to create financial regulator