Are there still things to hide in financial services?

28 March 2019
| By Mike |
image
image
expand image

People who are pushing back on the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) over its tough new litigatory approach might be seeking to hide somethings, according to the regulator’s chair, James Shipton.

In an address to a Sydney forum, Shipton said that while it was only 50 days since the handing down of the final report of the Royal Commission, ASIC was already reading criticisms of its approach to litigation but countered with the claimed that ASIC’s mandate was crystal clear: “If the law is broken we need to enforce it”.

He said that ASIC was doing the job the community expected of it, and suggested that those who were pushing back against the regulator’s “clear mandate” either did not understand its mandate or believed it would use that mandate inappropriate.

“Push back from this clear mandate concerns me though – it says:

  • Despite the Royal Commission there is resistance to a meaningful mindset change.
  • There is a fundamental misunderstanding of our broader fairness mandate and our statutory mandate to enforce the law.
  • It suggests we would use our powers inappropriately, irresponsibly and without foundation to, it has been suggested, unfairly target particular names.
  • Most importantly, it suggests there are still things to hide. 
  • These sentiments ultimately and unfortunately perpetuate an unhelpful culture of resistance and reluctance.
  • Accordingly, they run counter to our role of enforcing the law, protecting consumers and catalysing positive behavioural change. 

Shipton said the answer for such people was clear, “don’t break the law”.

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest developments in Super Review! Anytime, Anywhere!

Grant Banner

From my perspective, 40- 50% of people are likely going to be deeply unhappy about how long they actually live. ...

1 year ago
Kevin Gorman

Super director remuneration ...

1 year ago
Anthony Asher

No doubt true, but most of it is still because over 45’s have been upgrading their houses with 30 year mortgages. Money ...

1 year ago

Super funds had a “tremendous month” in November, according to new data....

3 days 21 hours ago

Australia faces a decade of deficits, with the sum of deficits over the next four years expected to overshoot forecasts by $21.8 billion....

4 days 3 hours ago

It seems the government is still determined to push through its controversial super tax legislation, according to its Tax Expenditures and Insights Statement released tod...

4 days 17 hours ago