Regulator called on to even entry playing field
One of Australia's corporate regulators has been accused of inconsistency in its policing of new entrants to the financial services space, with smaller innovators unfairly subject to more lax treatment than larger players.
In response to Coles' submission to the Financial System Inquiry, which said regulatory framework squeezed out non-bank players with its tight entry barriers, PayPal compliance manager David Hanna stressed there were significant establishment hurdles in the market, particularly those imposed by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
However, he said the barriers for smaller players, such as PayPal's stored value card competitors, were in some cases less rigourous.
He said the same barriers should be imposed for all organisations, whether it be banks or Coles or start-ups.
"I think the challenge for APRA is making sure there's like for like," he said.
"As some of these smaller, but growing organisations come to the table, it's important to make sure there's equal and fair treatment of those requirements."
Recommended for you
The FSCP has announced its latest verdict, suspending an adviser’s registration for failing to comply with his obligations when providing advice to three clients.
Having sold Madison to Infocus earlier this year, Clime has now set up a new financial advice licensee with eight advisers.
With licensees such as Insignia looking to AI for advice efficiencies, they are being urged to write clear AI policies as soon as possible to prevent a “Wild West” of providers being used by their practices.
Iress has revealed the number of clients per adviser that top advice firms serve, as well as how many client meetings they conduct each week.
