Latest Poll – ASIC Peer Review Panel

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Do you support ASIC's call for the creation of an industry peer review panel?
  • Yes (46%)
  • No (35%)
  • Not sure (20%)

Our latest poll asks you a simple question, but the devil may lie in the detail.

We’re asking if you support the notion that your peers should determine whether advisers should be banned for their misconduct (see: ASIC Proposes Peer Review Panel…).

A few questions come to mind:

  • How will ASIC determine which cases it should bring before the proposed peer review panel?
  • What scope would or should the panel have in determining the severity of the ban, if deemed appropriate?

We’re also interested in whether the panel, if it is eventually formed, would actually include any authorised representative peers. In its release, ASIC notes the proposed three-member panel “…would comprise financial services and credit industry participants and non-industry participants …with relevant expertise, and at least one ASIC staff member.” There doesn’t seem to be much room in this language for a financial adviser to be included, once we’ve taken account of at least one ASIC staff member and possibly a non-industry participant.

In the early stages of this development, ASIC does state that, amongst other areas, it will be consulting on the optimal composition of the proposed panel. So, while the idea is still formulating, and there are naturally some questions that need to be answered, we’re asking you whether, at least in principle, you support the idea of a panel of industry peers sitting in judgement of the punishment that should be meted out to advisers proven to have behaved inappropriately.

Let us know what you think…