The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, the Hon Chris Pearce MP, today released a package of 25 proposed refinements to improve the operation of the Financial Services Regulation (FSR) framework.
‘Although there is strong overall support from both consumers and industry for the underlying principles of the framework, the Government acknowledges that there are some practical, day to day issues that need fine tuning’, Mr Pearce said.
The package of proposed refinements is based on feedback received from consumers, industry participants and their representatives, as well as the report provided to the Government by the Financial Sector Advisory Council.
The proposed refinements will improve the quality of disclosure to consumers and provide greater certainty to industry participants as to how to comply with their obligations under the law.
‘In developing the refinements, we have focussed our attention on the original intent of the FSR framework which was to protect consumers,’ Mr Pearce said.
‘Disclosure is most effective in protecting consumers when the information received by consumers is concise and relevant to their needs’.
Mr Pearce said that the refinements would also reduce compliance costs for industry and provide greater certainty as to how the regulatory framework will be applied.
‘The refinements will give industry participants greater confidence to make use of the increased flexibility that is inherent in the FSR framework. By way of example, financial services licensees will be given more scope to tailor disclosure documents to different types of clients or products’.
The package of refinements has been developed in consultation with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and is available either in hard copy or electronically from the Treasury website (www.treasury.gov.au).
2 May 2005
Contact: Gillian Harvey 03 9887 3890 or 0411 567 060