Ombudsman to deal with 95 per cent of disputes

When the last of the states’ financial services powers are transferred to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the new Financial Ombudsman Service will be dealing with 95 per cent of disputes.

The Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law, Nick Sherry, said from today the ombudsman will be handling about 80 per cent of disputes.

“For the first time we will have banking, insurance and investment disputes being dealt with under one roof,” he said at the opening of the ombudsman’s Melbourne office.

“The merging of the three dispute services will deliver greater capacity to identify systemic issues.”

The new service has been formed by the merger of the Bank and Financial Services Ombudsman, the Financial Industry Complaints Service and the Insurance Ombudsman Service.

The previous banking ombudsman, Colin Neave, becomes the new chief ombudsman, with Alison Maynard becoming the investments, life insurance and superannuation ombudsman.

The new banking ombudsman is Philip Field while Sam Parrino becomes the general insurance ombudsman.

Sherry said he hadn’t found any organisation in the financial services industry that was opposed to the merger.

“There are significant changes occurring in the regulation of the financial services industry and this is part of it,” he said.

“Compared to other nations, Australia is well placed in the oversight of its financial services industry.”

Neave said a new ‘terms of reference’ for the organisation would be written by the middle of next year.

“We are now in business and if there is any financial services provider that doesn’t have a dispute resolution service, we are willing to accept them,” he said.