The Federal Government has re-affirmed its intention to ban\u00a0commissions from 1 July 2012, but debate continues as to whether this ban will extend to\u00a0risk commissions.<\/p>\n
Last week, Financial Services Minister, Chris Bowen<\/strong>, made a speech in Parliament, in which he re-stated his commitment to the Government’s Future of Financial Advice<\/a>\u00a0(FoFA) package of reforms.<\/p>\n Mr Bowen\u00a0spoke in broad terms on the issue of commissions,\u00a0his position being that clear and simple client disclosure does not, in his opinion, outweigh the conflict of interest that he believes is inherent in remuneration by commission.<\/p>\n However,\u00a0the minister did not refer specifically to the current debate on whether risk commissions should be included in the wider commission ban from 1 July 2012\u00a0(advisers can click here<\/a> to access a copy of the\u00a0full transcript of Mr Bowen’s speech).<\/p>\n Mr Bowen and senior Treasury colleagues are in the process of conducting a series of\u00a0interest meetings around the country, as well as consulting with industry groups about all elements of the proposed FoFA reforms.<\/p>\n Contributing to\u00a0other industry input,\u00a0we have forwarded to Mr Bowen a copy of all\u00a0139 comments<\/a>\u00a0submitted to riskinfo regarding the\u00a0future of adviser remuneration, especially in relation to\u00a0the issue of conflict of interest.<\/p>\n… clear and simple client disclosure does not… outweigh the conflict of interest… inherent in remuneration by commission<\/h6>\n