ASIC approves AFCA naming firms
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has approved changes to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) rules allowing the authority to name the financial firms it rules both for and against.
ASIC said AFCA had applied for the rule change to enable the identification of firms following a public consultation process, although consumers would remain anonymous.
ASIC said that in its firs six months, AFCA had received 35,263 complaints and while publication of determinations had been a long-standing feature of the external dispute resolution schemes, the names of firms involved in financial services, superannuation and credit complaints had not been published.
ASIC said it viewed that the naming of firms would help identify conduct or market problems within firms or affected specific products or services, as well as highlighting where firms had don the right thing.
Recommended for you
Government has introduced a bill to Parliament to legislate the first stream of the QAR reforms.
ASIC now has a 1:1 ratio when it comes to court success in the enforcement of crypto activities and more action is expected as Treasury seeks to introduce a regulatory framework.
A leading governance body has hit out at “specialist interest groups proposing ad hoc law reform” when it comes to reforms of financial services legislation and believes an independent body is needed.
The release of ALRC’s final report into financial services legislation has highlighted financial advice as a “significant” focus as it seeks to reduce costs and help advisers understand their obligations, alongside the Quality of Advice Review.
