Accountants want to be re-enabled to give advice

11 February 2019
| By Mike |
image
image
expand image

Accountancy is already a profession and the final report of the Hayne Royal Commission should encourage the public to be seeking genuine advice and support from their trusted adviser – the accountant, according to the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA).

What is more, the IPA wants the law changed to enable accountants d to have “deeper holistic conversations” with clients.

In a statement released today, IPA chief executive, Andrew Conway said the Royal Commission had reinforced the importance of trust and seeking appropriate advice from professionals, but that profession evolve over time.

“Whilst every profession faces challenges, the emergence of professionals is an important factor. Accountants and accounting as a profession has evolved literally over centuries,” he said. “Put simply, Public Accountants are not in the business for charging exorbitant fees for advice but rather offer genuine support to their clients.  They want to be able to have broader advice discussion which the current financial services regime prevents them from having.”

“It is saddening, that so many people; mums and dads, families and small businesses have been subject to unscrupulous behaviour, aggressive selling, dishonesty and greed. 

“They are the aggrieved purely because of self-interest driven objectives of particular market participants in the financial services industry, protecting their patch and personal gain.

“Members of the three professional accounting bodies are answerable to the highest level of professional and ethical standards, subject to ongoing quality assurance evaluations, and must maintain currency of knowledge through committed and continuous professional development and training.

“We believe the time has come for a more open conversation about returning to a time where broader and deeper holistic conversations between accountants and clients are allowed through the financial service legislation.

“In some of these cases, such conversations could have identified and potentially resolved a number of the issues or at least alleviated some of the negative impact that victims of financial services misconduct have had to endure,” said Mr Conway.

 

 

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest news and developments in wealth management industry

MARKET INSIGHTS

GG

So shareholders lose a dividend plus have seen the erosion of value. Qantas decides to clawback remuneration from Alan ...

2 months 1 week ago
Denise Baker

This is why I left my last position. There was no interest in giving the client quality time, it was all about bumping ...

2 months 1 week ago
gonski

So the Hayne Royal Commission has left us with this. What a sad day for the financial planning industry. Clearly most ...

2 months 1 week ago

A Sydney-based financial adviser has been banned from providing financial services in the interest of consumer protection after failing to act on conduct concerns. ...

3 weeks 2 days ago

ASIC has cancelled the AFSL of a $250 million Sydney fund manager, one of two AFSL cancellations announced by the corporate regulator....

3 weeks ago

Having divested its advice business in August, AMP is undergoing restructuring in at least four other departments amid a cost simplification program....

2 weeks 4 days ago