The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) said government regulatory impact statements (RIS) on six areas of proposed financial advice reforms did not meet best practice standards.
In evidence yesterday before Senate Estimates, OBPR executive director Jason McNamara said RIS on six areas of the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms did not meet best practice requirements.
Meanwhile, opposition assistant treasury spokesman Mathias Cormann said in a statement today Cormann Parliament should halt further consideration of FOFA until a full RIS was done.
Cormann read out part of the OBPR’s assessment yesterday of the government’s RIS at the evidential hearing: “Regulatory impact statements were prepared for the various other FOFA reforms, but were not assessed as adequate for the decision-making stage.
“Consequently the Office of Best Practice Regulation has assessed the proposal as being non-compliant with the Australian government’s best practice requirements.”
Cormann asked McNamara to elaborate on the reasons for the OBPR’s findings.
“Senator, in regard to a number of RIS in that area, there were six separate RIS in that area. Treasury had provided those to us but we had not found that those RIS were adequate. They hadn’t met the best practise requirements,” McNamara said.
Cormann asked why the RIS had not met best practice requirements.
“In regard to those RIS, essentially the impact analysis wasn’t at a standard that we would pass,” McNamara said.
He said the six separate RIS had been submitted on “simple products, treatment of soft dollar benefits, access to advice, replacement of the accountants’ exemption, renewal requirements on ongoing financial advice fees to retail clients and the treatment of paid commissions on insurance products within the superannuation and life insurance products outside of superannuation”.
