Increase ASIC oversight of adviser PII say accounting groups

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor/Publisher, Financial Newswire

19 February 2026

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) should be given the same powers as the Tax Practitioners Board to oversee Professional Indemnity Insurance cover, according to the major accounting groups.

In a joint submission to the current Treasury consultation on enhancing PII, the accounting groups pointed to the TPB approach under which registered practitioners provide it with details of PII when they renew their registration.

They noted that the TPB was also informed with respect to PII policy detail changes or when cover is renewed with accountants providing the name of the PII insurer, the policy number, the start and end date of the policy and the amount of cover.

“We also believe this should be expanded to include disclosure of any specific limitations or exclusions of cover, or new restrictions on the renewed cover and details of any claims paid,” the accounting groups said.

“For comparison, as of 30 June 2025 there were over 63,800 registered tax practitioners in Australia and in 2024/2025 the TPB had an operating budget of just over $32 million. In the same period there were 2,680 AFS licensees and 15,233 financial advisers and ASIC had an operating budget of just over $39.2M for the retail financial planning sector.”

“We believe there should not be material cost impact to implement these changes given that ASIC are already leveraging technology to collect PII information and can leverage AI analytics to assist with data analysis and reporting. The benefits of this approach include ASIC:

• having real time access to data to identify which AFS licensees are not meeting their statutory obligations to held appropriate PII
• being able to monitor trends on which insurers AFS licensees are seeking PII cover, and
• being able to monitor the amount of PII cover AFS licensees are seeking in comparison to the obligations of RG 126.

“We also note that with ASIC being responsible for the monitoring and supervision of Qualified Tax Relevant Providers, there should also be consistency in how PII cover is monitored and enforced to ensure all consumers seeking tax (financial) advice are adequately protected,” the joint submission said.

The accounting groups also called for improved monitoring to ensure AFSLs are complying with their PII obligations and greater transparency on claims data.

“…there is a need for improved transparency on PII claims, including paid and unpaid or declined. This would provide the data needed to understand and evaluate if PII is being effective in responding to client claims for financial losses arising from poor quality services and other misconduct by its representatives,” it said.

“Where claims are unpaid, including declined, it could also provide insight if the claims were for events not covered by the PII, such as product failure or insolvency of the product provider.”