The banking royal commission has heard more revelations of fees being charged to people who have died.

Key points: Colonial First State's superannuation trustee had been charging fees to the estates of dead people

Colonial First State's superannuation trustee had been charging fees to the estates of dead people Colonial First State general manager Linda Elkins said the company's view in 2015 was that customers should have been notified

Colonial First State general manager Linda Elkins said the company's view in 2015 was that customers should have been notified She also said financial advisers may still be paid a kind of annual fee called a trialing commission even after a client had died

The Commonwealth Bank-owned Colonial First State has told the commission its superannuation trustee Avanteos Investments Limited (AIL) discovered in 2015 it was charging fees to the estates of dead people.

AIL has recently told the corporate regulator ASIC and the banking regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, about the breach.

The practice was revealed during cross examination of Colonial First State executive general manager Linda Elkins by senior counsel assisting the commission Michael Hodge QC.

Mr Hodge: "The issue that was identified or has since been identified by AIL is that where it had been notified that a member had died it had continued to charge adviser service fees?" Ms Elkins: "That's right." Mr Hodge: "And the fact that it was doing so had first been discovered in 2015." Ms Elkins: "Yes."

Earlier in the year, it was revealed at the commission that Commonwealth Bank financial advisers had continued to charge fees to people who had passed away.

After that the bank and Colonial First State investigated if it was happening elsewhere in the company.

AIL looked at notifying clients in an updated product disclosure statement in 2015 that their estates would continue to be charged adviser service fees after they died, but did not do so.

Ms Elkins told the commission that fees should not have been charged to the estates.

Ms Elkins: "In this review the conclusion we made was that the practice should cease and should never have occurred." Mr Hodge: "You're saying in 2015 and 2016, the view wasn't that it shouldn't be done, the view was it needed to be notified to the members, but in 2018 the view is it shouldn't be done?" Ms Elkins: "That's right. And our view is that in 2015 the view should have been it shouldn't be done."

Colonial First State has asked accounting firm Deloitte to investigate why the practice was not stopped when discovered in 2015.

"We are reviewing all of our processes in relation to deceased estates to see if there are any other issues at all," Ms Elkin said.

"But certainly on this issue we cease the fees upon notification of death."

Customers may still be charged fees after death

Ms Elkins also admitted that if a member died they may still have trialing commissions paid to a financial adviser. That is an annual fee which is paid for the lifetime of an investment product.

National Australia Bank has also revealed it charged dead clients fees.

Colonial First State also admitted it broke superannuation laws on 15,000 occasions because it did not have proper systems in place when new superannuation laws came into place in 2014.

The firm did not transfer customers to new low-cost superannuation accounts called My Super by the legal deadline of January 1st 2014.

Ms Elkins told the commission that Colonial First State had issues in identifying accrued default amounts — that is where customers had not chosen a superannuation account but had been placed in a default account with the firm.