ASIC urged to improve quality of its engagement, but with whom?
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) needs to focus on improving the quality of engagement with stakeholders rather than the quantity, according to answers provided to a Parliamentary Committee.
Just days after a Financial Newswire poll of financial advisers pointed to a significant lack of trust in ASIC, answers provided to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services show ASIC has been urged to improve its approach to dealing with stakeholders.
However, while engagement with consumer groups was specifically mentioned in the answer provided in relation to a review undertaken by the Financial Regulator Assessment Authority (FRAA), no mention was made with respect to ASIC’s engagement with financial advisers.
Asked by the committee chair, Labor Senator, Deb O’Neill, whether ASIC was engaging with all the stakeholders it needed to, or whether blind spots existed, the FRAA said the information it received suggested that ASIC was “engaging broadly with all necessary stakeholders” there was scope to improve its approach.
The answer cited an element of the report published by the FRAA which stated: “CHOICE and other consumer groups noted that ASIC adopts a more limited approach to consulting with consumer groups when seeking views on strategic priorities, compared to the approach adopted by the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission”.
“The outcome of this finding would be for ASIC to focus on an improvement in the quality rather than the quantity of stakeholder engagement,” it said.
Financial Newswire’s poll revealed financial advisers were broadly dissatisfied with ASIC’s approach, with a number of respondents lamenting that ASIC was not listening to adviser concerns.
“Talk to advisers and clients, and stop listing to product providers and fake client representation bodies such as Choice,” one respondent said.
Another stated: “ASIC should understand that without a healthy financial planning industry, the improved access and reduced cost to good financial advice is not possible. While they work to protect consumers, they should listen to advisers”.
CHOICE and other consumer groups – they should be the last ones ASIC consults. They are not stakeholders they are activists trying to push whatever agenda/ideology takes their fancy.
Not only are they not stakeholders, they aren’t actually consumer groups either. They may have been consumer groups once upon a time, but they were hijacked by extremist activists years ago, and no longer represent the best interests of consumers.