ASIC keeps sights trained on planners
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has confirmed to a Senate Estimates Committee that it will be using a portion of its increased Budget funding to continue its pursuit of the financial planning and life insurance sectors.
Newly-reappointed ASIC chairman, Greg Medcraft used his opening address to a Senate Estimates committee hearing on Friday to declare the additional funding for the regulator "will enable further surveillance and enforcement in areas such as financial planning, responsible lending, life insurance, and misconduct and breach reporting".
With the Government now having formally entered election mode, the Senate Estimates Committee hearing on Friday was the last occasion on which ASIC could appear before members of the existing Parliament.
And the message from Medcraft was that the increased funding would be directed, in part, towards greater technology and the capacity to better identify and assess risks and misconduct through data analytics.
"For instance, we might use data analytics to show trends around claim rates on a particular insurance product or retail investor interest in more risky financial products — which in either case might point to wider industry problems," he said.
The ASIC chairman claimed this would mean the regulator could identify wrongdoing earlier and respond more quickly.
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