In a statement last week, chief executive officer of the FSC Sally Loane said a royal commission into the financial services sector would prevent self-regulation and the opportunity to build consumer trust.
“We are uniquely placed to take up the mantle of consumer reform so that the government can get on with its job of governing. Proving as an industry we can regulate ourselves also strengthens consumer trust in the sector. In this light, we are concerned about a proposal that could act as a handbrake on self-regulation,” Ms Loane said.
According to the FSC, inquiries into the financial services sector have cost the industry more than $3 billion since the global financial crisis.
“Any continuing reforms and changes in financial services are always needed quickly to keep up with the fast rate of change in the industry, not least because of technology and the rapidly changing needs and expectations of the community,” Ms Loane said.
“Royal commissions are a slow process, only look at past practice and inevitably go off at tangents.”
Ms Loane said the financial services industry has already introduced standards and codes in recent years to help deliver value, build trust in the community and reduce the cost to Australians of managing financial affairs.
“The FSC is against calls for a royal commission,” Ms Loane said.
The FSC have done nothing to protect consumers, just the opposite. The Life insurance code of practice is a joke and the LIF through the FSC’s dishonest dealings will drive less customers to be able to afford risk advise and more customers buying junk overpriced direct products, just as the FSC wanted.
The FSC execs are not adequately regulated or even adequately qualified.
A Royal Commission is the only way to stop the corruption at the top of the industry food chain.
I have been very dishonest in my dealings with customers and earned a lot of money out of it, but I’m going self regulate myself and dob myself in and be honest about it and lock myself up in jail and have fines imposed on me……..we all must be dreaming
We don’t need a Royal Commission but self regulation is not the solution – the solution is a properly funded ASIC enforcing the laws that are currently in place. A good example of self regulation is the Life Insurance Code of Practice – a document full of meaningless commitments – such as its position with respect to the time that claim assessment will take: Prior to making a decision on your claim, we will keep you informed about the progress of your claim at least every 20 business days – that is, we are not committing to any time-frame at all other than we will, once a month, tell you what we have (or probably more likely have not) been doing.
ASIC does not enforce the laws ……….they wait for someone to walk through their doors to let them know they have been naughty and wrecked peoples lives so that ASIC can think about whether to take action or not.