Wednesday February 14 2018

News Source: Global Exchanges

Focus: Trading Rules

Type: General

Country: Australia

Link: https://goo.gl/6Z1ufi




On the 14th February 2018, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) welcomed the establishment of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). This body was established following legislative approval by the Australian Parliament.

AFCA will be the culmination of more than 20 months of public consultation and inquiry, commencing with the review of the dispute resolution framework by an independent panel.

The new body will consider financial complaints and will conduct fair, timely and effective dispute resolution which is the cornerstone of the financial services consumer protection framework. The AFCA will help deliver higher standards and better outcomes in the financial services market.

The transitional arrangements that will enable the AFCA to operate accordingly:

  • AFCA will start accepting complaints on 1st November 2018
  • The operator of the scheme will be authorised by the Minister, and the scheme will be subject to ongoing oversight by ASIC.
  • In order to maintain access to external dispute resolution for consumers in the lead up to commencement of AFCA, ASIC will monitor member compliance with existing EDR scheme requirements as well as the effectiveness of scheme operations.
  • ASIC will be consulting soon on updated Regulatory Guide 139 (REG 139), which will set out details of ASIC’s oversight of AFCA.  This will be finalised and published when AFCA commences operations.
  • ASIC will also publicly consult on new IDR standards and the mandatory IDR reporting requirements that are also contained in the AFCA Bill – but this consultation will not take place until after AFCA commencement.
  • Current legislative IDR requirements for superannuation trustees and retirement savings account providers (including 90-day timeframes and requirements for written reasons) will continue to apply in their current form until ASIC consults on and then issues updated IDR policy (RG 165).

For additional information please click the link above.