FSCP by numbers: Which issues are occurring most?
There have been 16 outcomes issued by the Financial Services and Credit Panel (FSCP) since its launch in 2023, which issues are frequently occurring?
The FSCP is a pool of industry participants, appointed by the responsible minister, that ASIC draws upon when forming individual sitting panels. It operates separately from, but alongside, ASIC’s existing administrative decision-making processes.
A sitting panel will be convened by ASIC to consider certain suspected misconduct by, or circumstances relating to, a financial adviser such as if it reasonably believes a financial adviser is not a fit and proper person to provide advice or a financial adviser becomes insolvent under administration and ASIC is aware of this.
In some cases, the sitting panel may determine that no action is needed.
Note: Some outcomes have related to multiple issues.
Outcomes issued:
| Year | Outcomes |
| 2023 | 13 |
| 2024 YTD | 3 |
Common topics:
| Topic | Instances |
| Statement of Advice | 8 |
| Superannuation | 7 |
| Insurance | 6 |
| Inappropriate advice | 3 |
| Scoped advice | 1 |
| Scaled advice | 1 |
| SMSFs | 1 |
Breaches:
| Code of Ethics and Corporations Act | 11 |
| Corporations Act only | 3 |
| Code of Ethics only | 2 |
Code of Ethics standards breached:
| Standard | Instances |
| Standard 5 | 8 |
| Standard 9 | 5 |
| Standard 2 | 3 |
| Standard 3 / 8 | 2 each |
| Standard 1/4/6/12 | 1 each |
The most common Code of Ethics breaches related to Standard 5. This states advisers must ensure that all advice and products are in the best interest of each client, appropriate to the individual circumstances of each client, and presented in terms easily understood by the client.
The second-most common – Standard 9 – states advisers must ensure all advice and products are offered in good faith and with competence, and are based on information that is neither misleading or deceptive.
Check back next week for part two focusing on the actions and warnings issued by the FSCP.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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