SPAA opposed to licensee codes
The SMSF Professionals' Association of Australia (SPAA) has expressed its formal opposition to Australian Financial Services Licensees or dealer groups having their own codes of conduct.
The SPAA position has been made clear in a submission to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in which it said the organisation's greatest concern with ASIC approving codes sponsored by AFS licensees or dealer groups was that the codes would not be effectively administered and enforced upon subscribers.
"We believe that an AFS licensee or dealer group issuing and administering a code - even through a third party administrator - will result in a conflict of interest that cannot be adequately resolved to effectively administer the code," the submission said.
The SPAA document went on to say that it believed allowing codes with limited industry coverage would result in differing requirements for professionals in regards to opt-in proliferating across the financial services industry.
"We believe this would defeat the policy-rationale behind the opt-in requirement and damage consumer confidence in the financial services industry," it said.
"We also believe that this proposal would conflict with ASIC's existing practice of seeking industry harmonisation across codes of conduct."
The SPAA submission said it believed harmonisation was best achieved through professional association or industry body codes which bind a large number of professionals or industry participants.
It said the financial services industry should be aiming for a consistent standard of meeting the opt-in requirements - one that fosters consumer confidence and understanding in the sector.
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