FASEA and ASIC face Parliamentary code of ethics scrutiny
Financial advisers have provided members of both the Senate Economics Legislation Committee and the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics with information regarding a submission from two Griffith University academics which appeared to have been submitted with assistance from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
The advisers have also raised questions about the involvement of members of members of the FASEA board in the submission in circumstances where those members are representing organisations which are also represented on the ASIC Consumer Advisory Panel.
Those organisations are the consumer groups CHOICE and the Consumer Action Law Centre (CALC), both of which also had representation on the board of FASEA.
The submission causing most consternation was developed by two Griffith University academics, Dr Hugh Breakey and Professor Charles Sampford which notes on the bottom of page one that “this submission was developed with input from members of ASIC’s Consumer Advisory Panel. It also incorporates issues raised in the FASEA Consumer Forum of June 29, 2018”.
The submission lodged by Breakey and Sampford is regarded as having been supportive of the approach adopted in the controversial Standard 3 of the FASEA code of ethics while a separate submission lodged by CHOICE is regarded as having been equally supportive.
ASIC documentation confirms that both CHOICE and CALC are represented on its Consumer Advisory Panel and CALC’s Catriona Lowe and Carolyn Bond, a former CALC office-holder, were on the board of FASEA at the time of the submissions being received along with CHOICE representative, Elisa Freeman.
Queensland Liberal Senator, Amanda Stoker who has already raised questions about the FASEA code of ethics submissions is expected to ask further questions when the Senate Economics committee next deals with FASEA and ASIC.
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