The FPA intends to be more vocal over its actions against unprofessional advisers by publicly revealing details of member suspensions and bans.
In what FPA chief executive Jo-Anne Bloch has called a big step for the association, the FPA will release a quarterly report detailing any complaints and disciplinary action against its members.
“We believe it is our responsibility to publicly table the results of our disciplinary processes,” Bloch told InvestorDaily.
“Every quarter you will see a report from us . because we believe that part of being a professional association is to tell the community that you are actually taking action and that we are actually doing things.
“Now it’s not that we’ve never taken action in the past, we just haven’t publicly tabled the results.”
The FPA released its first public complaints and discipline report late yesterday.
The report revealed that from January 2007 to March 2008 the FPA had investigated complaints against 130 of its members for alleged breaches of its professional standards.
Of the 130 complaints, formal disciplinary action was taken in 13 cases.
Fourteen of these members were investigated for involvement in Westpoint, while 116 were scrutinised over what the FPA labelled general complaints.
Six of the Westpoint investigations have since been closed, while a further six are ongoing. One member has been suspended while another has been expelled under FPA regulations.
Under the FPA’s regulations the association is unable to release member names.
Bloch said the action taken in the 13 cases was either suspension or banning.
“It will be one of those two in terms of the most common form of disciplinary action,” she said.
The FPA has an investigation officer who is responsible for assessing complaints on a case-by-case basis.
