Speaking to ifa, Senator Cormann – who took over Senator Sinodinos’s assistant treasury portfolio responsibilities last month – said the change of responsible minister will not affect commitments made by his predecessor regarding financial advice policy items.
“The Coalition government remains committed to all of the policies pursued by Senator Sinodinos as assistant treasurer on behalf of the government,” Senator Cormann said.
Since taking the reins of the Abbott government’s financial services policy responsibilities following the September 2013 election, Senator Sinodinos made a number of commitments that the government will address concerns about a number of financial advice policy issues not covered by FOFA.
At a Liberal Party function attended by financial services industry luminaries in January, Senator Sinodinos announced the government will engage with a “whole slew” of concerns raised with him, describing an informal “work program”.
Issues he singled out as being part of the work program included the cost and availability of PI insurance for financial advisers, minimum education standards and the operations of FOS.
At the AIOFP national conference in November 2013, Senator Sinodinos also committed to reviewing the competitiveness of the financial advice market and any conflicts of interest created by vertically integrated business models.
Personally I think Senator Sinodinos has provided enough information at his recent ICAC meeting to show that he is not capable of good decision making.
I would be quite concerned having some one who did not seem to know what was going on in a small company being involved in the financial future of Australia.
Perhaps the all suggestions should be given proper consideration by a knowledgeable ,informed independent Adviser.