Fired up ASIC chairman lashes planners
The chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Greg Medcraft, has exhibited strong emotion in criticising financial planners and has admitted to being "fired up" over their conduct.
Addressing the National Press Club in Canberra yesterday, Medcraft revealed the strength of his feelings after finishing his address and answering questions from journalists, and referenced his time in investment banking, including in New York, to describe the level of his disappointment.
"I am fired up because I'm from an investment-banking background and I've come to this very new over the past seven years," he said.
The ASIC chairman suggested that financial planners had been involved in many of Australia's recent financial collapses, saying "It has absolutely broken my heart to see what financial advisers have done and what they continue to do to people."
The strength of his comments about financial planners appeared to be at odds with the measured tone of his pre-prepared speech within which he referenced the link between superannuation balances and the need for people to have trust and confidence in financial advice.
"I have long been passionate about lifting trust and confidence in this sector. Only one in five Australians get financial advice. With recent high-profile cases of advisers mis-selling financial products, this is sadly no surprise," Medcraft said. "The industry needs to get its house in order."
He said one initiative that went a long way towards building trust and confidence was a national exam for financial advisers.
"I see the exam as a co-regulatory solution that would provide national assurance to all Australians that financial advisers were tested in a secure environment; financial advisers meet a minimum level of competence tested at a university-degree level; and financial advisers' training has ethics as a core component," Medcraft said.
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