Cut red tape

The Federal Government has been provided with further incentive to reduce the level of red tape being applied to the financial services sector with a paper commissioned for the Finance Industry Council of Australia (FICA) suggesting it had the potential to make regulators more responsive.

The paper, prepared by Justin O’Brien from the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at Charles Sturt University, was presented at a conference co-sponsored by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and FICA.

It suggested a reduction in administrative filing requirements could pay significant dividends.

“Not only is progress easily measurable, the wider impact is of significant value,” the paper said. “It can help change negative perceptions of an unaccountable regulator, aloof from the compliance burden imposed by inappropriate and out-of-date legal requirements.

“Moreover, further administrative reform can help secure the final objective, that of facilitating inward investment,” the paper said.

The chairman of FICA and chief executive of the Investment and Financial Services Association, Richard Gilbert, said the conference had been extremely constructive and it was now up to the Government, financial regulators and the financial services industry to identify practical ways to improve regulatory decision-making, policy and the process of regulatory change.