Cormann renews FOFA reform vigour
The Finance Minister, Senator Mathias Cormann, has used a newspaper column to signal he intends strongly progressing the Government’s Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) changes.
Writing in the Australian Financial Review, Cormann has picked up on his role replacing the Assistant Treasurer, Arthur Sinodinos, declaring that the Government is not repealing the FOFA legislation but, rather, improving it.
He said there had been a lot of misinformation disseminated about the Government’s changes, “some of it deliberate and mischievous”.
Cormann said it had created a level of unnecessary concern and confusion.
The Finance Minister said the former Labor Government had been guilty of regulatory over-reach and that was something the Government was looking to address via its changes.
He reiterated that the Government was not intending to reintroduce commissions, nor water down the best interests duty, but said it was committed to “restoring a level playing field across the whole financial services market when it comes to treatment of general product advice”.
Cormann said the former Government’s restriction on non-industry fund financial product providers had further entrenched the market distortion “caused by Bill Shorten’s special deal for industry super funds”.
“He allowed them to charge every super fund member an undisclosed amount for so-called intra-fund advice, general or limited personal advice irrespective of whether or not the fund member has received any advice,” he said.
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