FADC investigations near completion

FMA is close to finishing its investigation into two advisers.

Friday, October 9th 2015, 6:00AM

It revealed earlier this year that it was considering two advisers for possible referral to the Financial Advisers Discipinary Committee, which deals with authorised financial advisers’ breaches of the code.

The FADC can impose fines up to $10,000 and cancel advisers' authorisation.

The FMA said this week it did not have a set timeframe for those investigations but they were not far from being finished.

Some advisers are calling for changes to the way the system works.

No cases have been heard over the past year.

Robert Oddy, president of adviser group SiFA said that made it hard to gauge how well the system was working.

But he said it should be moved away from the control of the FMA.

In a submission on the Financial Advisers Act issues paper, SiFA said it did not seem correct that the FMA provided the secretariat to the FADC when it was also the body that made referrals and was effectively the prosecutor.

“To have them servicing the committee seems to us a gross conflict of interest.”

Institute of Financial Advisers chief executive Fred Dodds said some sort of body was needed to deal with potential complaints.

He said if it was not provided by the FMA, advisers could end up bearing the costs.

“I don’t think the FMA is telling the FADC what to do.”

Both groups said the FADC should be extended to QFE and RFE advisers as well as AFAs.

The latest annual report shows the FMA received 4763 queries its most recent financial year, up 76% on the year before, and 1051 complaints. Financial advice was responsible for 11% of complaints. Six per cent of queries related to the Financial Advisers Act.

Dodds said the fact that no advisers had ended up in the FADC seemed to indicate “we must be being reasonably good”.

Tags: FADC financial advisers