FPA says professionally assured co-regulatory model the right way forward
Mark Rantall
Australia’s peak professional financial planning body today revealed evidence that a co-regulatory system will promote better outcomes for consumers and help restore trust in Australia’s financial advice system.
Mark Rantall FPA CEO said: “Firstly, the recent call to lift educational standards, appropriately phased in, is a sensible and enduring approach and FPA supports this principle without question.
“We have long argued for the raising of standards and we stand beside every Australian in this concern.
“Secondly, new data from the FPA’s whistleblower service shows how effective a professional co-regulatory system can work when enforcement of higher ethical and professional standards may be called for.”
Statistics from the FPA Confidential service, introduced in February 2010, show over that timeframe:
- A total of 61 incident reports relating to 62 individuals were received anonymously.
- The FPA Professional Standards team successfully resolved 90 per cent of these matters.
- The remaining 10 per cent are either ongoing matters, are subject to active inquiry or being monitored
“The story behind these numbers is of a professional system operating to self-govern against perceived or actual misdemeanor. It points us to the timely conclusion that we must now embed a relevant, consumer-centric professional framework in Australia that separates industry from profession and product sales from advice.”
