ASIC opposes royal commission

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the ASIC Annual Forum in Sydney yesterday, Mr Medcraft said there have been sufficient inquiries into the sector already.

“I think the time for inquiries is finished,” he said. “I think what we need now is action, and action is already underway.

“FOFA is now implemented, we’ve got the financial advice register, we’ve got the recommendations on the financial adviser exam from the senate inquiry, we’ve got recommendations from the Financial System Inquiry.

“So we’ve got things being implemented, and then maybe we have government decisions impending. So I think before we jump into more inquiries I think we just see the outcome.”

Mr Medcraft said the onus is now on the financial advice industry to “win the trust and confidence of Australians” rather than its being on regulators or politicians. 

The comments follow assistant treasurer Josh Frydenberg telling ifa the government is also opposed to a royal commission, despite the claims of Senator John Williams that support for such an inquiry is growing among the members of the Coalition backbench.

“We have no plans for a royal commission but have responses to a number of inquiries – FSI, PJC and the ASIC inquiry,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“We are looking at strengthening the powers of ASIC in a number of areas and I have spoken to the head of ASIC about the most recent episode at NAB and he said those investigations are of utmost importance.”