A handful of longstanding and outspoken critics of the banking industry will help shape "an independent review of commissions and payments made to bank staff and third parties" established by the Australian Bankers Association.Stephen Sedgwick, a former Australian Public Service Commissioner, "will conduct an independent review of product sales commissions and product based payments that could lead to poor customer outcomes," the ABA said yesterday.Sedgwick has only until the end of the year to produce a final report.Two associates in the review will be Gina Cass-Gottlieb from Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers and David Heazlett from consultants Mercer, described by the ABA as a remuneration expert.A "stakeholder advisory panel" will include Gerard Brody, chief executive of Consumer Action Law Centre, Geoff Derrick, national assistant secretary at the Finance Sector Union, Sarah Saunders, chief advocate at National Seniors and Deen Sanders chief executive of Professional Standards Councils. Sanders was previously head of the Financial Planning Association's professionalisation project and a member of the global regulatory taskforce for financial planning standards.At least two of these, Brody and Derrick (now the acting national secretary of the FSU), are active critics of the industry.The remuneration review is one pillar of a six part program initiated by the ABA in April as a response to escalating consumer and government disquiet against a background of numerous "conduct controversies".Ian McPhee, the former auditor general, is overseer on behalf of the industry of this project.The ABA has consolidated information resources, and seeking stakeholder engagement, through the website betterbanking.net.auThe ABA's terms of reference for Sedgewick's review specify scope exclusions on the grounds of "extensive and significant changes to remuneration structures across financial services over the past few years. "The review is intended to build on these changes and now look at remuneration structures in retail banking. The review will, therefore, not include product sales commissions or product based payments already addressed through other reforms and reviews.