Bowen reserves right to legislate on commissions

The Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law, Chris Bowen, has acknowledged the degree to which a submission from the Department of Treasury on financial planning is at odds with the approach adopted by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

In a television interview this week, Bowen discussed how the ASIC submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services differed with that produced by Treasury.

“Those submissions are different, they have different points of view and there can be unintended consequences of any actions, so you do need to work these issues through very methodically and that’s what I’m doing,” the minister said.

Bowen’s comments reflected the fact that while ASIC’s submission to the Parliamentary inquiry advocates a highly prescriptive approach, particularly with respect to fees and commissions, the Treasury submission has warned that any radical change will substantially undermine the viability of the financial planning industry.

Importantly, while accepting the progress that has been made in the financial planning industry with respect to addressing perceptions of conflict of interest resulting from existing commissions-based remuneration arrangements, Bowen has left open the option of legislating to outlaw some forms of payment.