Advisers Divided on 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 suggests the jury is still out on the question of whether ASIC’s call for the creation of an industry peer review panel is a good idea.

As we go to print, 43% of advisers support the proposed peer review panel, but 38% are against its creation and one in five advisers (19%) are on the fence (see: ASIC Proposes Peer Review Panel…).

The reasonably large 19% who are undecided suggests advisers need more information about the panel and how it will work before making their judgement. This is reasonable, given the proposal was only announced last week, and also given ASIC will be consulting with the industry before finalising the make-up of the panel and its scope (click here for ASIC’s Financial Services Panel consultation paper).

Historically, advisers have told Riskinfo they are strong supporters of identifying and banning the industry’s ‘bad apples’. We think that while this attitude remains current, many advisers want more details about how these ‘bad apples’ will be identified and judged through this peer review process, including the severity of the penalties that should be applied.

If you’ve got your own ideas about how the ASIC Financial Services Panel should be constructed and who should be appointed to the panel, you can make your submission to ASIC during its consultation period, which closes on 23 May (email: policy.submissions@asic.gov.au, referencing Consultation Paper 281).

In the meantime, we welcome your comments as our poll remains open for another week…