SMSF Association submission of the Australian financial complaints authority

SMSF Association Submission

The Self Managed Super Fund Association (SMSFA) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission on the establishment of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

We support the creation of AFCA as a single complaint body for financial services. We believe this will result in a more efficient complaints framework for industry, consumers and regulators.

While we support the change, we do hold some concerns that costs for advisors who currently subscribe to the Financial Ombudsman Scheme (FOS) or the Credit and Insurance Ombudsman (CIO) may rise depending on the fees levied by the AFCA. We urge Government to pay careful consideration to this aspect of creating the AFCA when approving the new body. This is especially relevant as financial advisors and licensees will face increased costs in the immediate future through the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) cost-recovery levies and the new education and ethical framework for financial advisors.

We have limited our response to issues most relevant to our expertise.

Submission on the Australian Financial Complaints Authority

SMSF Association Submission