ASIC's senior executive leader Ged Fitzpatrick has defended the role of fast-tracked pre-election regulatory change in the wake of RG148.
Regulatory Guide 148 (RG148), a document containing advice about the use and limitations of platforms, was last updated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in June – just a few months before the election.
Two days before the federal election, Fitzpatrick was asked at Money Management's Platforms and Wraps conference how ardent financial planning regulators should be in the face of an impending change of Government.
He said regulators still had a legitimate role in both reviewing the state of affairs and working with the platforms to instigate appropriate change.
"The regulator has to operate within the context of the law. We can't pre-empt what a Government's intention will be," he said.
"We're aware of the potential changes that might happen."
Joining him in a panel discussion, the Financial Planning Association's Mark Rantall said the answer was to move away from arbitrary regulators towards professional standards.
"It's far better to be regulated by a profession than a hard-and-fast law," he said.
