In a statement yesterday, the lobby group said full compensation for affected clients is "imperative" if the financial planning profession is to stand any chance of restoring trust among consumers.
FPA chief executive Mark Rantall said the events of the past few weeks, which have seen a senate inquiry call for a Royal Commission into the events at Commonwealth Financial Planning, have been "unprecendented".
"The FPA stands with those clients and is calling for a clear plan of action from the CBA to fully compensate all clients and ensure we don’t see a repeat of these appalling events in the future," said Mr Rantall.
“It is a shame that our professional community is feeling the pain of consumers hurt by a few bad apples. We recognise there are CBA financial planners, some of them FPA members, who do a great job for their clients and try to do the right thing every day. We stand by those members," he said.
The FPA has agreed to form a joint panel with CBA to commence the process of identifying all clients affected by the scandal and achieving "fair and reasonable compensation", said Mr Rantall.
"We’re calling for this working group to be chaired by an independent and highly respected individual. The FPA will volunteer senior members of its leadership team to serve on the working group to ensure proper compensation for clients," he said.
The FPA also called for a summit with a "clear and independent charter" to be held into the advice practices at the CBA and the role of ASIC, which would then make a series of recommendations to the industry.
"We would like to see the summit chaired by an eminent, independent figure. We’re calling for all leaders to attend the summit and then sign up to recommendations. We think it’s about time the entire industry regulated itself in co-operation with government, regulators and community stakeholders," said Mr Rantall.
"If we can’t have a summit which commands the respect of the public, one with genuine teeth that can truly deliver positive changes, we would fully support calls for a Royal Commission," he said.
"Our primary focus is the impacted clients of CBA and ensuring we never see something like this again. We need a system where when things go wrong, members of the profession act with speed and complete fairness."
