AIOFP refers Dixon executive Treasury appointment to NACC

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor and Publisher

25 July 2024

The Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals (AIOFP) has declared it will be passing to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) its concerns about the appointment of a former Dixon Advisory executive to a key Treasury role.

AIOFP executive director, Peter Johnston has shared with the organisation’s members an e-mail to the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, asking that he “why a senior manager of the failed Dixon Advisory Group, is now the Director, Financial Adviser Regulation Unit – Advice and Investments Division of Treasury”.

“Considering this person directed the Dixon advice strategy, and Dixon management were found guilty by the Federal Court for breaches of the best interests duty and failure to disclose their conflicts of interest with selling their own funds to clients, we find this rather confusing,” Johnston’s e-mail to Jones said.

“We are also wondering why ASIC, who successfully prosecuted the case did not act against any Dixon management person.”

“Then there is the notion of having a senior Dixon person inside Treasury when the CSLR decision was made to allow Dixon victims to be compensated including Treasury Bureaucrats – we also find this confusing,” Johnston’s message said.

“We have no choice but to pass this information onto the National Anti-Corruption Commission for consideration (NACC).”

Johnston’s message to Jones represents a follow-on from the AIOFP’s earlier announcement that it had referred to the Dixon Advisory collapse and the actions of ASIC and Treasury with respect to the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR) to the NACC.

It also comes as the Financial Advice Association of Australia (FAAA) has sought to ramp up pressure on the Government to hold a public inquiry into the Dixon collapse issues and its impact on the cost of funding the CSLR.