FSCP reappoints 24 part-time members

On Monday, Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones announced that the government has reappointed 24 members to the Financial Services and Credit Panel (FSCP) for a three‑year period beginning on 1 January 2025.

The FSCP was formed at the start of 2022 to support the Better Advice Bill, with the panel established within the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) as the single disciplinary body for financial advisers.

ASIC is responsible for convening individual panels to consider disciplinary matters. Each panel must consist of a chair (an ASIC staff member) and at least two other members, which ASIC must select from a list of eligible persons appointed by the minister.

“The candidates bring with them a range of knowledge and experience across the fields of business, administration of companies, financial markets, financial products and financial services, law, economics, accounting, taxation and credit activities and credit services,” Jones said.

The reappointed members are:

Shabnam Amirbeaggi, Debra Anderson, Julie‑Anne Berry, Kathryn Brown, Gabrielle Bouffler, Donna Caird, James Cotis, Don Crellin, Bruce Debenham, Hamish Dee, Dr Jennifer Diggle, Brad Fox, David Giovanelli, William Hamilton, Katherine Hayes, Ross Illingworth, Chris MacEachern, Melissa Nolan, Peter Richards, Samantha Robinson, Kevin Smith, Gary Toomey, Lauren Walker, and Matthew Wigzell.

Ian Chambers, Gary Croker, Gary Deegan, Nicholas Hilton, David Murray, Craig Stephens, and Judith Sullivan are the current members that will not return for a further three years.

“These reappointments will continue the high level of skills and experience available to the FSCP, to help ensure that key sectors of our economy are regulated effectively,” Jones said.

The FSCP’s decisions are, for the most part, anonymised, with neither the register nor a press release typically disclosing the name of the financial adviser involved in a particular matter unless the outcome is required to be displayed on the Financial Advisers Register (FAR).

While the single disciplinary body for financial advisers kicked off in January 2022, it did not hand down its first decision until June 2023, when it found that an adviser known only as “Mr S” had contravened the Corporations Act and directed him to provide three successive compliance audits from their licensee in relation to personal advice they have given to retail clients, with at least 12 months between the audits.

In its most recent decision, the FSCP suspended the registration of financial adviser Ian Reid for three months, effective 21 November 2024, for failing to comply with his obligations when providing advice to three clients.