The problem with regulators and the ‘unregulated world’

In recent months, ASIC has addressed areas such as this, including crypto-asset adoption, which the corporate regulator said it would look to raise awareness on new and continuing obligations and ensure investor protection in its last quarterly update.

While he believes there is great development in those areas moving forward, FinClear head David Ferrall said regulators still have an issue on their hands.

“The problem with this unregulated world is that it's unregulated and the regulators don't have any transparency. They can't see into it,” Mr Ferrall said on a recent episode of the ifa Show podcast.

“It's all decentralised peer-to-peer. Financial markets have always operated up until now on central trusted counterparts that the regulator oversees and can always look into and chase you down if need be.

“With this centralised capability, that capability is just not there. The regulators are struggling with how to regulate that world, how to look at that world, how to make it more transparent.”

Mr Ferrall added that regulators must work out how best to implement “transparency oversight” in those areas for them to run more smoothly.

Another rising development particularly in the advice space is social media influencers or “finfluencers” which ASIC published an information sheet on about last month.

Information sheet 269 aims to provide clarity on how the law applies to social media influencers and the licensees who use them and outlined activities where influencers may contravene the law if they are unaware of their legal requirements.

The move was applauded by the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA), with CEO Sarah Abood saying the guidance is a boost for financial advisers.

“Financial planners are subject to a high degree of oversight and regulation, and consumers can have confidence in the advice they receive from a professionally qualified and registered financial planner,” Ms Abood said.

“None of these protections apply where finfluencers are concerned.”

Listen to the full episode with Mr Ferrall here.

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.