Parliament urged to act on regulators

australian prudential regulation authority australian taxation office australian securities and investments commission chief executive

17 November 2010
| By Mike Taylor |
image
image
expand image

Australia’s financial service regulators should be obliged to detail the number of times they have used their coercive powers either in their annual reports or to the Parliament, according to the Rule of Law Institute of Australia (RoLIA).

The institute renewed its call for greater transparency about the use of coercive powers by regulatory agencies after conducting a survey of their annual reports. The survey revealed that both the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) had been among the least active in reporting their use of coercive powers.

The RoLIA survey results suggested that the regulatory agencies could be clearly grouped into those that had delivered significant disclosure to the Parliament and those that had not, with the Australian Taxation Office, ASIC and APRA being in the latter group.

RoLIA chief executive Richard Gilbert (pictured) said the institute was calling on the Parliament to exercise its right and duty to know the extent of the use of the economic regulators’ powers, either by requiring disclosure in annual reports or by requesting the information at estimates hearings.

He said that, as an alternative, the Parliament should amend the parent status of each of the economic regulators and insert appropriate reporting requirements.

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest news and developments in wealth management industry

MARKET INSIGHTS

GG

So shareholders lose a dividend plus have seen the erosion of value. Qantas decides to clawback remuneration from Alan ...

2 months 2 weeks ago
Denise Baker

This is why I left my last position. There was no interest in giving the client quality time, it was all about bumping ...

2 months 2 weeks ago
gonski

So the Hayne Royal Commission has left us with this. What a sad day for the financial planning industry. Clearly most ...

2 months 2 weeks ago

Insignia Financial has made four appointments, including three who have joined from TAL, to lead strategy and innovation in its retirement solutions for the MLC brand....

6 days 5 hours ago

Having divested its advice business in August, AMP is undergoing restructuring in at least four other departments amid a cost simplification program....

3 weeks 5 days ago

The Reserve Bank of Australia's latest interest rate announcement has left punters disheartened on Melbourne Cup Day....

5 days 4 hours ago