AFCA secures more members after ASIC intervention

Fifty financial services licensees and 131 credit licensees have secured membership with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), following intervention by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Read more: Financial firms now legally required to cooperate with AFCA

ASIC had been advised by the AFCA that 58 financial services licensees and 217 credit licensees had not obtained AFCA membership and may be in breach of their licence conduct obligations. These entities previously held external dispute membership with one of the previous schemes – Financial Ombudsman Service, Credit and Investments Ombudsman, and Superannuation Complaints Tribunal.

The ASIC intervention also led to the following outcomes:

• Four financial services licensees voluntarily cancelled their licenses;
• Four financial services licensees were cancelled or suspended by ASIC;
• 38 credit licensees voluntarily cancelled their licenses; and
• 48 credit licensees were cancelled or suspended by ASIC.

“ASIC has taken proactive measures to protect consumers from those few financial services licensees and credit licensees who were not complying with the obligations of their licence by being a member of AFCA,” said Sean Hughes, ASIC commissioner. “ASIC’s intervention means that consumers now have access to the independent dispute resolution scheme of AFCA if their complaints are not being properly considered by the financial services licensee or credit licensee.”