ClearView has criticised the direction taken by the Financial Services Council (FSC) in developing an industry standard around Approved Product Lists (APL) stating it will favour large financial institutions and work against consumers and competition.
The insurer made the claim as part of its submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services – Inquiry into the life insurance industry in which it stated it was generally supportive of the Life Insurance Framework reforms but had reservations around the development of the APL standard.
ClearView stated that while the Government has tasked the FSC with the responsibility for developing an Industry Standard in relation to APLs it had “…effectively granted the FSC the right to legislate by the APL Standard and to deal with monitoring and enforcement of the APL Standard through the FSC’s self-regulatory role.”
“…pro-consumer and pro-competition outcomes…will not be achieved if the FSC is permitted to continue its current course in developing the APL Standard…”
The submission stated that despite this position the FSC had not made any progress on developing the Standard and any development would be led by its ‘large, vertically integrated incumbent players’.
“While ClearViw is currently a member of the FSC, we have reluctantly reached the view that the pro-consumer and pro-competition outcomes sought by the Government will not be achieved if the FSC is permitted to continue its current course in developing the APL Standard,” the submission stated.
“This assessment results from the dominant position taken within the FSC by the large, vertically-integrated institutions who have no motivation to agree to a standard that would remove or even reduce current anti-competitive practices or that would promote competition, innovation or greater choice for advisers and consumers.”
ClearView also called for open architecture life insurance APLs to be mandated for the Australian Financial Services licensees “to ensure advisers are able to recommend, and clients are able to access, the most suitable product for their needs.”
Clearview life should be on every risk apl in oz.
Clearview should be congratulated for taking a stand against the FSC, as what they are stating, is what advisers have been saying for years.
The FSC IS A CARTEL and will only do what is good for its large vertically integrated Institution Bosses.
When a FSC member breaks rank, then it should be blatantly obvious that something is
rotten within the FSC.
The Government appear to be caught up in a trance of; let us listen to BIG BUSINESS
Lobbyists and ignore the disgraceful actions of some of the Biggest Players, while approving a vague promise of a better Industry Standard, that the FSC has not made any progress on.
The Government has been warned time and time again that the FSC should be held
accountable for their actions and yet the Government is still happy to put the fox in charge of the hen house.
If the FSC have been tasked with the responsibility of developing an industry
standard that is good for every Australian, then they and their lobbyist mates need to be held accountable like advisers are, if they stuff up and that should include them all being held personally liable for their actions.
If the Government mandated a tell the truth or be fined millions policy, many in the
Lobby Industry would dry up and blow away on the wind and dare I say, we may even start getting more accurate information from all the vested interest groups.
Maybe a Bill could be introduced by the FSC for the above as a mandate for it’s
members.
( We might have to wait a while for that suggestion to be presented to Government )
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