The Federal Government has been taken to task for causing consumer uncertainty by taking an undue amount of time to deliver a new legislative framework covering the financial services industry.
The accusation of undue delay was levelled by the chairman of the Financial Services Council and Group Head of Banking and Financial Services at Macquarie Bank, Peter Maher.
Maher used his opening address to the FSC annual conference on the Gold Coast to lament the on-going consumer uncertainty attached to the Government’s prolonged legislative deliberations around the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) change, and the recommendations of the Cooper Review.
He said the Government’s approach had led to industry uncertainty about the future of the financial services industry and the parameters within which companies would need to operate.
“This uncertainty is affecting consumer confidence in our industry,” Maher said.
He also claimed recent research had indicated the Government’s approach was undermining consumer perceptions of the value good financial advice could add to their ultimate outcomes.
Notwithstanding its concerns about the Government’s approach, Maher said the FSC would be strongly supporting the Government’s push to lift the superannuation guarantee from the current nine per cent to the envisaged 12 per cent,.
“We will be supporting the Government’s endeavours to make this happen,” he said.
