Unlikely allies unite to rebuff FSC proposal
The Financial Services Council's (FSC) call for an industry-funded advisory board has drawn scorn from two of finance industry's most vocal bodies, both of whom say it simplifies a far more endemic problem.
Earlier this week, the FSC put forward a proposal for a statutory body to oversee professional and education standards.
FSC chief executive John Brogden said self-regulation clearly was not working but stressed the industry was responsible for restoring confidence in the planning sector and dismissed calls to legislate the move to higher professional standards.
Both the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and Industry Super Australia (ISA) have hit out at the FSC's proposal.
The FPA said the idea was potentially conflict-laden given the participation of industry bodies and said it masks deeper issues.
"The financial planning issues we face as a nation require long-term, systemic change," FPA chief executive Mark Rantall said.
"This industry reform effort will require significant work on the part of individual planners and the organisations that lead and manage them. It isn't a job for government.
"We believe the role of government and regulators is to set minimum standards and enforce them legally — it is not to do the industry's job by defining what professionalism in advice looks like."
ISA chair Peter Collins similarly said the move would put responsibility into the wrong hands.
"Industry Super Australia supports all efforts to build the competency and professionalism of the financial advice industry, but the foundation are strong laws that protect consumers."
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