Presenting at AIA’s Adviser Summit on Tuesday, AFCA ombudsman Shail Singh said the ombudsman had heard just six complaints relating to a breach of the code of ethics as at 31 August 2020.
However, Mr Singh said none of the complaints brought forward related only to a code breach.
“Allegations of a breach of the FASEA code [have] come up six times since the implementation of the code – it’s important to note that it only applies to conduct after 1 January 2020, so there’s a bit of a lag time before we see disputes,” Mr Singh said.
Following the news that Treasury would absorb FASEA’s standards setting powers later in 2021, and amid industry speculation that the code of ethics could be amended as a result, Mr Singh added that AFCA was “conscious of the regulatory uncertainty around the code”.
“No dispute so far has been based solely on the basis of the code – there has been other factors. We wanted to comment on that because we know it’s an area of interest for advisers,” he said.
Given advisers can’t understand them I’m guessing clients and AFCA can’t either. No point getting excited.
So we’ll keep on creating new codes of conduct / advice standards until we can generate more complaints?
I wouldn’t be smug yet. That code can justify anything.
The FoFA trap didn’t snap shut until the Royal Commission and then it bit and bit hard.
six complaints and none successful. AFCA would have looked at every avenue to make them successful, so they must have been frivolous – and as AFCA states themselves, the rarely do not accept a complaint based on it being frivolous or vexatious (hint: because it hurts their model which is funded by Adviser/licensees per complaint)
It doesn’t say none were successful. He said none of the complaints brought forward related only to a code breach.
That’s because nobody knows how to practically apply a code that has no theory, depth or substance to it
If you want to have a code that everyone abides by then you need to first have a orientation framework and training program that teaches practitioners how to practically apply this in their day to day decision making
Then and only then can you have a code monitoring body to enforce this
Ask any one of the FASEA panel about the different theories of ethics and how you make ethical decisions on a daily basis and you have your rationale into why it’s not working
Capability in the design and implementation stage !!
Ask many compliance departments. They seem to think they know in exact detail how to apply the code in its most intrusive form.
So no advice since the code came in (lag) yet they say no complaints re the code, does AFCA even know what they are doing?
When there are no RETAIL advisers left (because the Govt’s Haynes No 2 bill has bankrupted most of them), there won’t be anyone to complain about, except institutions.
Very true, though I think many advisers are smart enough to walk away before bankruptcy.
Excellent point. It’s a shame the government does not now the understand the compliance nightmare advisers face.