Banned CBA planners took charge of millions of dollars Seven Commonwealth Bank financial planners who were banned by the regulator for misconduct are understood to have represented thousands of clients and managed hundreds of millions of dollars of their money. Maurice Blackburn principal John Berrill, who settled individual claims for victims of one of the banned planners, Don Nguyen, warned on Friday that time was running out to seek compensation for clients who may have suffered a loss as a result of the misconduct of the planners who were banned from the industry. Victims have six years to lodge a court case, or they may miss out because of the statute of limitations, Mr Berrill said. Given that the conduct and the losses occurred in the period 2007 and 2008, the clock is ticking for people who have not yet lodged court cases. As part of an enforceable undertaking, CBA's financial planning arm set up a compensation regime for customers it knew had lost money. To date the bank has paid out $36.4 million in compensation to 725 clients, with $23 million paid to 202 clients of Mr Nguyen who, according to the bank, had 900 clients. It said estimates that he managed $300 million of client money were "grossly inaccurate." The bank could not confirm the total number of clients of the seven banned advisers or the amount of funds under management. Mr Nguyen became a planner with the bank in 2003 and became a top planner, writing millions of dollars a month in new business. A Fairfax Media investigation can reveal that some client files mysteriously disappeared in 2009, when clients began complaining about the loss of their savings. Documents reveal that when the bank searched for client files it found that 17 of Mr Nguyen's had disappeared on May 29, 2009, two months before Mr Nguyen resigned, citing illness. The correspondence suggests that the files could not be located. A spokesman for the bank said: "Where files were lacking we relied on other documentation, including information from customers themselves, to ensure we identified all customers whose investments could have diminished as a result of inappropriate advice they received from Don Nguyen or any of the advisers you have mentioned. We also relied on investment data, which records all customers who have funds invested with advisers. The bank said it was confident that all customers served by the banned advisers had been assessed to determine whether they sustained losses attributable to "inappropriate advice." Mr Nguyen was banned for seven years in March 2011 for deceptive and misleading conduct, and Ricky Gillespie was banned for life for forging signatures and failing to comply with financial services laws. He is appealing his ban. Financial Resolutions Australia, which has settled a number of cases for clients of Mr Nguyen, said it was hopeful that ASIC would have CBA agree to reopen offers where clients were pressured and not aware of Mr Nguyen's banning order or the problems with his files. Slater & Gordon's Mark Walter advised that the clock did not stop on the statute of limitations if a client was engaged in discussions with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) or the institution, in this case CBA. Some clients who pursued independent advice received multiples of the original compensation offer from the bank. Retirees Mervyn and Robyn Blanch, victims of Mr Nguyen, who invested $260,000 with Commonwealth Financial Planning, eventually received a payment of $95,000 after the bank's initial "final" offer of $6777. Nationals senator John Williams said he would look into why some compensation claims had taken so long to be paid out. A CBA spokesman said since the Nguyen affair two government inquiries had resulted in significant industry reforms.