Advice ownership disclosure not ruled out

In an exclusive interview with ifa, Senator Sinodinos said the federal government would not be opposed to introducing more explicit disclosure on this issue, as called for by AIOFP in a live submission to Mr Sinodinos in Hobart earlier this month.

“The idea that a service provider would have to disclose who they are owned by, whether it is a big bank or someone else, I don’t see a problem with that idea,” Mr Sinodinos said.

The senator said he intends to “pursue” the issue, and believes it would be a “sensible thing” which is in line with the government’s aim to “improve transparency and improve information to the consumer”.

As there is already a requirement to disclose licensee ownership in some client documents such as the financial services guide, making the disclosure more obvious or clear to the consumer would not constitute “additional red tape” and would therefore not be ruled out by the government’s moratorium on further regulation, he said.