FSI at risk of being lost in glut of reviews
The Federal Government should undertake an audit of reviews within the financial services sector to ensure the Financial System Inquiry (FSI) is not lost within at least a dozen other inquiries and reviews which overlap with the FSI, according to Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ).
In its own submission to the FSI CAANZ stated that this inquiry and its findings needed to be integrated into the finding of other reviews and existing Australian law and not treated as separate components to avoid inconsistency and a lack of transparency within the sector.
CAANZ Head of Leadership and Advocacy, Rob Ward said the FSI would examine tax reform, financial services, and retirement and the superannuation industry and "there are at least a dozen reviews and inquiries currently ongoing or due to commence, which overlap in terms of scope with the Financial System Inquiry".
"The broader policy objectives with regard to superannuation and the sustainability of our retirement system demand careful consideration of taxation policy in an integrated fashion and not as separate components," Ward said.
"We are calling for increased integration of the numerous reviews currently underway, just finished or about to begin in order to increase transparency and consistency."
CAANZ also called for greater integration between superannuation, aged pensions and tax concessions in super; higher education standards for financial advisers with monitoring of professional and ethical obligations; and a risk assessed basis for the allocation of regulatory resources and enforcement.
AUTHOR
Jason Spits
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