Labor wants planners to take ‘financial services oath’
Financial planners are being urged to take a ‘financial services oath' to uphold integrity in the profession, by the Australian Labor Party.
Labor Whip, Joanne Ryan, called on planners to adopt an oath developed in response to the Government's attempt to wind back amendments to the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) laws, by the Melbourne-based Homestead Financial Group.
Ryan told the House of Representatives that Homestead principle, Vern Fettke, felt that the changes to the FOFA laws — which were blocked by the Senate last week — would see the profession revert to "unscrupulous practices" and prompted him to act.
"When the regulations were changes, when the consumer protections were removed… Vern and his team decided to innovate," Ryan said.
"This company had always been proud of their work, lived their values and operated with integrity. They wanted to ensure that their values were public, that their clients could rely on their integrity.
"So Vern and his team developed an oath — the financial services oath — and last Saturday I joined a gathering of many of their clients and leaders in our community to witness the people who work for Homestead take that solemn oath.
"That oath was a statement of integrity — not a marketing ploy, but a solemn oath, a statement of honest intention and service.
"Like Vern, I hope this initiative will be adopted more broadly and good people working in financial services will be supported by their communities when they take this oath."
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