What happened to the complaining Royal Commission witnesses?
Of the 26 financial institution customers who were witnesses at the Royal Commission, only three had previously raised their concerns about alleged misconduct with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
The regulator told a Parliamentary Committee that of the concerns raised by the three witnesses, two had been referred to specialist teams within ASIC and the third was referred to an external dispute resolution scheme.
“ASIC did not take further action because the matter was better dealt with by the external dispute resolution process (EDR), to get individual rectification,” the ASIC said in an answer to a question on notice from the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services.
ASIC said the witness referred to EDR had initially been referred to a specialist team for further consideration but that “the specialist team declined the matter on the basis the concerns were better dealt with by the Financial Ombudsman Service to get individual rectification and compensation”.
However, it said ASIC was currently investigating the financial institution in question.
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