The FPA has been forced to apologise to a member of its board over allegations of breach of conduct or risk facing criminal action.
Commenting on the incident, FPA chair Julie Berry said the matter has been resolved.
“The matter was resolved, both to the satisfaction of the parliamentary committee and all parties, so I can’t really comment any more on that,” Berry said.
“[FPA board member] Julie Matheson has stepped down as a director. Her term as a director finished at the AGM.”
On 18 August, the FPA sent a letter to Matheson claiming she had breached the association’s board charter principles and director’s code in a submission she lodged to the Parliamentary Joint Committee’s (PJC) inquiry into financial products and services in Australia.
“Board members have expressed concern over your conduct because it is not aligned with the FPA’s business and affairs, its members’ interests or your duties as a director,” the letter from the FPA said.
The FPA said it would review Matheson’s conduct in September and had the right to “impose a number of measures on directors where there are instances of a breach”.
The PJC was informed of the FPA’s correspondence to Matheson and called on the association to retract its letter and make a formal apology after it claimed the correspondence may constitute contempt of parliament and a criminal offence.
“I am writing to inform you, and through you all persons who were party to the decision to write to Ms Matheson in such terms, of the potential implications of threatening, disciplining or otherwise disadvantaging Ms Matheson in any way that may be linked to her submission to, or any of her dealings with the committee,” PJC chair Bernie Ripoll said.
“The committee asks that you withdraw the letter unreservedly and refrain from conducting the proposed review of Ms Matheson’s conduct at the September board meeting.”
