Whistle Blowers Against Canada's Big Banks Begin Testimonies

After a mid-March CBC report triggered nearly 1,000 current and former employees to come forward regarding immoral sales techniques at Canada’s five big banks, whistle blowers against CIBC and TD Bank will testify to the House of Commons finance committee today.

According to an Insurance Business Magazine report, the testimonies will centre around forging of signatures on insurance documents.

An ex-employee of CIBC, speaking anonymously to CBC News, alleged 85% of sales staff signed up clients for insurance they didn’t ask for using the clients’ initials. They would also add coverage for wealthy clients, hoping they wouldn’t notice the extra charges on their bill.

‘’Many Canadians already have trust issues with the insurance industry and it’s unfortunate these banks have added fuel to the fire,’’ Matthew Alston, COO of Surex, said. ‘’We have confidence in the broker channel and hope these allegations – against these banks – don’t give a black eye to our industry.’’

The Canadian Banking Association will get their chance to defend themselves, beginning June 12.