The unknown cost of the single disciplinary body

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor/Publisher, Financial Newswire

5 October 2021

Nobody yet knows what people will be paid to sit on the panels associated with the new Financial Adviser Single Disciplinary body, but they can be sure that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will be counting the cost of its administrative support.

That is the bottom line of answers provided by ASIC to a Parliamentary Committee which will provide little comfort to financial advisers who are worried about how the cost of running the new Single Disciplinary Body within the broader framework of ASIC will impact their levies.

Answering questions on notice from Queensland Liberal back-bencher, Bert Van Manen, about the costs and threshold for convening a panel, ASIC made clear it was going to be a user-pays approach.

“The panel will consist of two external members who would be paid according to a rate yet to be determined by either the Remuneration Tribunal or the Minister,” ASIC said. “The third member would be a senior ASIC staff member whose salary costs would have to be included, as would those of any ASIC staff who provided administrative support. Sitting behind this are the costs incurred in the course of ASIC’s investigation of the matter.”

Responding to Van Manen’s questioning about the threshold for convening a panel, ASIC said it would generally, subject to its discretion.

However, it said it would likely refer a matter if it considered it was appropriate for peer review because of its significance, complexity or novelty.

“The FSCP would exercise ASIC’s financial services and/or ASIC’s credit banning powers, following ASIC delegating those powers to the FSCP,” it said.