The executive leadership of ASIC appeared before the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services on Friday.
Senator David Fawcett, who chairs the committee, asked the panellists how ASIC plans to work with the industry in the wake of the disallowance of regulations put in place by the Coalition.
“The fact is that [the industry’s] IT infrastructure and their training systems have all been orientated in one particular direction,” Mr Fawcett said.
ASIC deputy chairman Peter Kell acknowledged there are systemic changes that firms will have to undertake, as well as IT and “other compliance” alternations.
The corporate regulator announced a “facilitative approach” to the new FOFA arrangements until 1 July 2015.
“We are already in dialogue with both industry associations and individual firms to identify where they are experiencing the most immediate problems,” Mr Kell said.
“If we need to provide no action letters then we will do so, once we’ve got a good understanding of where that will be most needed,” he said.
There are certain issues where ASIC “may need to signal even more clearly that we’re not going to be taking enforcement action in the short term”, Mr Kell said.
However, Mr Kell was quick to point out that ASIC will still “crack down” on financial providers who break the law or are “seriously non-compliant”.
“If people are acting in ways that harm consumers, if they are simply ignoring their obligations and making no efforts to comply we will certainly step in,” he said.
“We don’t have a tolerance for that sort of approach to compliance,” Mr Kell said.
However, he added that “some aspects” will take firms a little bit longer for firms to get in place than other elements, and “we take that into account as well”.
