It's been another great day for ASX shares and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) this Thursday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has gained a healthy 0.64% and is sitting just under 8,340 points. That's after the index touched a new record high of 8,384.5 points earlier this morning. But let's talk about what's going on with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price today.
Most of the big ASX bank shares are also having a great session today (which helps explain the index's new high). Take National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB). NAB shares have surged a rosy 1.25% so far this session and are currently almost $39 apiece.
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) is doing even better. Westpac shares have surged 2.08% to $32.40 each at the time of writing.
ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) hasn't been quite so lucky but has still gained almost 1% to around $31.71 a share.
But the CBA share price? Well, it's far more muted.
CBA shares closed at $139.80 yesterday afternoon. Today, those same shares opened at $141.320 each before dipping to the current $141.03 share price.
Of course, this 0.8% gain isn't anything to turn a nose up about. But it is still conspicuously subdued compared to what's happening with CBA's peers in the banking space.
What's going on with the CBA share price this Thursday?
Well, it's hard to know for sure why CBA is lagging its banking brethren today. But an ASX filing put out this morning could give us a possible suspect.
This filing revealed that CBA has entered into an "amended enforceable undertaking" with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) over breaches of the Spam Act.
An ACMA investigation has reportedly found that CBA "incorrectly classified a significant number of electronic customer messages, which led to those messages being sent without a functional unsubscribe facility, or without consent".
As a result of this undertaking, CBA has paid a $7.5 million fine. The bank's group executive of marketing and corporate affairs, Monique Macleod, apologised to CBA's customers:
We apologise for sending non-compliant messages to customers… Timely and relevant information for our customers is incredibly important, and the way we classify that information to meet our regulatory requirements and customer expectations is an absolute priority. We are committed to meeting our obligations and we're dedicating significant time and resources to this.
This news could well be causing the CBA share price to lag behind its peers this Thursday. Let's see how long the underperformance lasts.
At the current CBA share price, this ASX 200 bank stock has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 24.8 and a dividend yield of 3.3%.
