FPA warns ASIC on social media complaints

social-media/ASIC/FPA/complaints/

12 August 2019
| By Mike |
image
image
expand image

The Financial Planning Association (FPA) has warned the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) of the dangers inherent in allowing social media to be used as an unmoderated and uninhibited means of filing complaints against financial planning firms and their planners.

The FPA has used a submission to ASIC’s review of Internal Dispute Resolution arrangements to argue that concerns expressed through social media should not, of themselves, be considered complaints in the first instance.

“The definition of a complaint should not be loosened to elevate an expression of dissatisfaction into a matter requiring a fulsome response,” it said.

“Every expression of concern should be dealt with on its merits, but should a concern be completely frivolous, a financial services company should be able to defer handling the matter unless it is escalated appropriately,” the submission said.

In doing so, the FPA has argued that people should not be allowed to hide behind the anonymity of social media and that they should be diverted to well-defined but private channels.

“By having appropriately defined channels for consumers to lodge a complaint, it instils responsibility for the individual to verify the complaint, in writing, through the appropriate channels that will clearly determine that the content is a complaint rather than a vexatious comment,” the submission said.

It said customer verification was a must because true forms of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin, were “completely open to abuse by scammers, hackers, social engineers and others.”

“There needs to be a valid connection between the customer and the business, and this cannot be established through social media channels, at least as they operate at present,” the submission said.

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest news and developments in wealth management industry

MARKET INSIGHTS

So we are now underwriting criminal scams?...

2 months ago

Glad to see the back of you Steve. You made financial more expensive, not more affordable as you claim, and presided ...

2 months ago

Completely agree Peter. The definition of 'significant change is circumstances relevant to the scope of the advice' is s...

4 months 1 week ago

A Sydney financial adviser has been permanently banned from providing any financial services, with the regulator deriding his “lack of integrity, trustworthiness and prof...

3 weeks 1 day ago

Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, has provided further information about the second tranche of the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes (DBFO) reforms....

2 weeks ago

One licensee has lost 27 advisers in the past week, now sitting at zero, according to the latest Wealth Data figures....

3 weeks 1 day ago

TOP PERFORMING FUNDS