FASEA finally delivers on accessibility of code submissions
The Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) appears to have finally made public submissions relating to the formation of its adviser code of ethics, making good on claims by its chief executive officer, Stephen Glenfield, to a Senate Estimates Committee hearing.
However, one of the most important submissions, that from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), while listed on the FASEA website, cannot be opened.
The code of ethics submissions to FASEA appear to have gone public after Queensland Liberal Senator, Amanda Stoker last Wednesday complained that it would be impossible determine why the authority changed Standard 3 of the code in the absence of all relevant submissions being made public on the authority’s web site.
Stoker asked Glenfield why, given that FASEA had the ability to publish links to the submissions, they were not available on the web site, with the FASEA CEO claiming the submissions were available.
“I see that you now have that functionality, and you have released the submissions that you received in response to the ‘Financial Planners and Advisers Code of Ethics 2019 Guidance’ document that you issued in October 2019, however you have still not released the submissions that you received on the consultation exercise that led to the finalisation of the code of ethics.”
“It is now a year later, and these submissions have still not been released and we are all still none the wiser as to why you made that significant change to Standard 3 prior to it being issued in February last year. Why haven’t these submissions on the code of ethics been released?” Stoker asked.
When Money Management checked the FASEA web site on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last week the submissions did not appear to have been made accessible but on Monday they were accessible, except for that from ASIC.
Senator Stoker last week questioned Glenfield’s claims that the submissions were available and asked him to send her the links to those submissions.
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