The Commonwealth Bank is facing 87 criminal charges for allegedly hawking life insurance through unsolicited phone calls

• The Commonwealth Bank is facing 87 criminal charges over allegations its one-time subsidiary CommInsure hawked life insurance products with unsolicited phone calls.

• Each charge carries a maximum penalty of $21,250.

• In a statement, the Commonwealth Bank says it self-reported the breaches of anti-hawking legislation to ASIC.

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The Commonwealth Bank's life insurance arm, CommInsure, has been charged with 87 counts of unlawfully selling products through unsolicited phone calls, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

In a statement posted to its website, ASIC alleges that CommInsure, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank at the time, made unsolicited phone calls to bank customers selling a life insurance product named Simple Life.

These calls, ASIC alleges, took place between October and December 2014 through telemarketing firm Aegon Insights Australia. According to ASIC, Aegon was provided with customer contact details from the Commonwealth Bank's database.

Each of the 87 charges carries a maximum penalty of $21,250, meaning the Commonwealth Bank could face fines of $1,848,750 if all charges are proven in court.

In a statement posted to its website and provided to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), the Commonwealth Bank says that it self-reported the matter.

"The alleged contraventions relate to telephone sales of Simple Life insurance products by CMLA in the period 7 October 2014 to 16 December 2014, a practice that ceased at the end of 2014," the statement reads.

"These matters had been the subject of an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. CMLA reported breaches of anti-hawking provisions to ASIC."

ASIC says it will not provide further comment on the charges, as it is "a criminal matter before the Court."

The case is listed to be heard at the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on November 19.

The Commonwealth Bank sold CommInsure to the Hong Kong-listed AIA Group for $3.8 billion back in 2017.