A number of FSC members have provided testimony before the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry in recent weeks, admitting to behaviour that federal Treasurer Scott Morrison has warned may incur jail sentences.
Asked by InvestorDaily whether the testimony may breach the FSC’s published ethics and conduct protocols, a spokesperson for the council confirmed that an investitgative process is underway.
“Our process for determining whether any member organisations have been in breach of FSC Standard No 1: Code of Ethics & Code of Conduct as a result of disclosures in the past week is already in train,” the spokesperson said.
“The Financial Services Council and its members take breaches of mandatory standards very seriously. Each of the boards of our member organisations must attest and sign off annually that standards are being met.”
The comments follow a statement issued by the FSC last week welcoming the announcement of tougher criminal and civil penalties in the wake of the royal commission.
To clarify, the oversight process this article describes is not a new or unique response. Matters regarding our standards are dealt with as part of the routine operating process of the FSC’s Standards, Oversight & Disciplinary Board Committee. This Committee meets regularly.
Sally Loane better hope she has a very large bucket of water to put this fire out…..I don’t like her chances as the issue of some FSC members breaching their Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct will be a raging inferno very quickly.
One would now have to ask what level of confidence Kelly O’Dwyer can now allocate to the FSC as a
“go to” organisation for all things ethical and in the best interest of and ” improving consumer outcomes”.
The FSC has manipulated and “coerced” legislation both with the LIF and FOFA to suit their own member agenda.
If Kelly O’Dwyer continues to accept guidance from the FSC and if any members are found not to have breached the FSC Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics, and subsequently not suspended, it would be taken that Kelly O’Dwyer and the FSC condone the actions.
FSC should be next call at the royal commission on the collusion it was part of in the dismantling of the risk advisers incomes by promoting LIF in reducing commissions, and all its members (Banks and Insurers) benefit and the consumer gets not a thing.
What a joke. How can FSC members breach an ethics code when the code is so basic to the point of irrelevance or in fact the FSC itself has no ethics. How about the FSC as a body being investigated for misleading government over the true lapse data of risk throughout the LIF process or their cartel behavior over premium rate rises or their lobbying for continued opt out which is detrimental to customers.
The FSC is a lobbying group for its members with the sole aim of increasing profits for them, they are not an ethical group trying to help customers and its time they were investigated.
This is the organisation that contrived “evidence”, to take to a government minister who used to work for one of their members, in order to get the government to legislate anti consumer cartel behaviour that would have otherwise been illegal (LIF). Hard to believe they actually have a code of ethics.