Parliamentary inquiry into financial advice

Parliamentary inquiry into financial advice

With some good news for Australian investors, my friend Simon Hoyle has just broken details on the Opposition’s call for a parliamentary inquiry into financial advice. We’ve posted an excerpt below, but to read Simon’s full article on Professional Planner, click here.

July 9, 2014
Simon Hoyle 

The Opposition has called for a parliamentary inquiry into financial advice, focusing on the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and its executives, and has called on the Government to table its proposed regulation for the Future of Financial Advice reforms to allow the Senate to vote on them as soon as possible, to bring certainty to regulation of the financial planning sector.

At a press conference in Sydney this morning the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, said questions need to be answered by the bank about why unethical financial planners employed in Commonwealth Financial Planning (CFPL) were not disciplined and were actually promoted. The inquiry should examine further the performance of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and whether stronger laws are necessary. Shorten said the inquiry would also examine the implications of watering down the consumer protection provisions of the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) laws in light of what took place at CBA.

The Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Chris Bowen, said suggestions that further reviews of the financial planning sector could be referred to the Financial System Inquiry (FSI) was “a cop out”. He said submissions to the FSI had closed, and the chair of the inquiry, David Murray, is a former chief executive officer of Commonwealth Bank.

Bowen said Labor would work with other parties in the Senate to “make sure the victims [of CFPL] can have their say on what should happen next, and how the Government, and others, should deal with this mess”.

Read more at professionalplanner.com.au.

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Roger Montgomery is the Founder and Chairman of Montgomery Investment Management. Roger has over three decades of experience in funds management and related activities, including equities analysis, equity and derivatives strategy, trading and stockbroking. Prior to establishing Montgomery, Roger held positions at Ord Minnett Jardine Fleming, BT (Australia) Limited and Merrill Lynch.

This post was contributed by a representative of Montgomery Investment Management Pty Limited (AFSL No. 354564). The principal purpose of this post is to provide factual information and not provide financial product advice. Additionally, the information provided is not intended to provide any recommendation or opinion about any financial product. Any commentary and statements of opinion however may contain general advice only that is prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial circumstances or needs. Because of this, before acting on any of the information provided, you should always consider its appropriateness in light of your personal objectives, financial circumstances and needs and should consider seeking independent advice from a financial advisor if necessary before making any decisions. This post specifically excludes personal advice.