Several people associated with the Commonwealth Bank said that the company executives spend extravagant amount of money on trips and restaurant even at the time of the beginning of the financial crisis.

They said that senior officials spent cash on restaurants and strip clubs, as the company's flawed culture focused on individual targets rather than the success of the bank as a whole. There are allegations that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission took 16 months to act on the information about misconduct in the bank's financial planning unit. The government is now aiming to launch a probe into the performance of the corporate watchdog.

An investigation into the bank, which will be published tomorrow, shows that the planners and managers celebrated their bonuses by dining out at exclusive Otto's in Woolloomooloo and later gathered at a strip joint in Kings Cross. When they officials were in Melbourne, they would head for Spearmint Rhino strip club on Melbourne's notorious King Street. It is believed that some of these have been paid for by the company.

"It is unfortunate that a sales-based culture was not uncommon across the industry at that time. We do not condone misuse of corporate credit cards or inappropriate conduct. If we have evidence of this we will act," said a CBA spokesperson said.