AFCA Given Permission to Name Names

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A release by ASIC this week notes it has approved changes to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority rules to allow the Authority to name financial firms in its published determinations.

The regulator says its position is that naming firms in determinations can:

  • Help identify conduct or market problems within firms or affecting specific products or services
  • Highlight where firms have done the right thing
  • Enhance transparency and accountability of firms’ performance in complaints handling and of AFCA’s own decision-making

To support the new Rules, AFCA will shortly be issuing updated operational guidelines which set out examples of the circumstances in which a determination naming a financial firm would not be published.

ASIC reported AFCA received 35,263 complaints in its first six months of its operation and that about 4,500 – 5,000 complaints are currently expected to be finalised each year by way of determination:

“While the publication of determinations has been a longstanding feature of the external dispute resolution schemes in Australia, the names of firms involved in financial services, superannuation and credit complaints have not been published to date,” noted ASIC, which added that consumers who are party to a complaint will continue to remain anonymous in all determinations.



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4 COMMENTS

  1. Perhaps AFCA might focus on certain industry super funds which have “rules” to do so way beyond accepted standards in rolling out from them to retail funds. That would be a good reference point to begin with.

    • I know an adviser who has been banned. He did the wrong thing, not willfully and paid the price.Public shaming can be a stab in the back. A final straw. It is cruel. There is always 2 sides to every story.

  2. I wonder if the CEO,s and insurance company’s management sited in the Royal Commission as being corrupt get a mention or will that all get swept under the carpet and the adviser get the blame yet again ??

  3. ***More bad news for consumers, financial services and in fact everyone but the lawyers***

    Whilst we can agree there are most definitely good arguments for ‘shaming’ those firms and individuals doing wrong by consumers, this is pay day for plaintiff law firms who will now be able to use this information to target firms and individuals with disputes on similar matters and potentially form the basis for future class actions.

    Well done ASIC. Well Done AFCA. Jokers.

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