ASIC reassesses consumer education

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is looking to step up its consumer education programs

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is looking to step up its consumer education programs.

The financial services regulator recently released a discussion paper in an effort to cement its role as a source of consumer education.

Consumer protection director Peter Kell says ASIC under its former guise, the Australian Securities Commission (ASC), was at the forefront of consumer educa-tion initiatives in the

“When we became ASIC, we took on a broader role within the financial services industry and we want our consumer education platform to reflect this change,” he says.

Kell says ASIC is looking to strengthen its ties with industry education providers, but is mindful of the need to keep an appropriate distance from the companies they are regulating.

“We are looking to partner with industry because we simply can not undertake such a huge project by ourselves. At the same time, we need to maintain our inde-pendence,” he says.

One successful education partnership ASIC has undertaken over the past few years is with the Financial Planning Association (FPA). The pamphlet Don’t Kiss Your Money Goodbye is the child of that relationship and has already been distributed to 350,000 consumers.