Govt to review PI cost and availability

At an industry event held in Sydney today, Assistant Treasurer Arthur Sinodinos announced the government will engage with industry stakeholders to review “a whole slew” of advice-relevant policy issues not covered by the FOFA legislation.

In an exclusive interview with ifa following the event, Senator Sinodinos elaborated on the nature of the announcement, describing the move as a “work program”.

“We’re still thinking about the way the review might be conducted and we don’t want to go out there and announce a full-blown very formal [process],” Mr Sinodinos said.

“What I was really setting out is a work program in consultation with stakeholders around issues including cost and availability of [professional indemnity] insurance, the issues around education standards and how you formalise those.”

The Assistant Treasurer said the government has not endorsed ASIC’s call for a national examination for financial advisers but said it was aware of the matter.