ASIC warns against ‘gaming’ general advice
Ordinary consumers should not be expected to know the difference between personal and product advice, according to Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) deputy chairman, Peter Kell.
Addressing the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia conference in Melbourne, Kell acknowledged that the definitions of product and personal advice represented both an issue and a challenge for the regulator and this was also being impacted by the Financial Systems Inquiry (FSI).
However he said ASIC's focus tended to be directed towards the delivery of personal advice because it was an area in which the regulator believed standards needed to be higher.
"We're addressing head-on the need to lift standards where personal advice is concerned," Kell said and cited ASIC's recent report on the life insurance industry.
However in pointing to the focus on personal advice, Kell made clear the regulator would be seeking to ensure some players did not seek to manipulate the use of general advice.
"We do not want to see people ‘gaming' the difference between the general/product and personal advice regimes," he said.
The ASIC deputy chairman then referenced the regulator's intention to pursue surveillance in the intra-fund advice arena.
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