On the night of 21 August, Prime Minister Julia Gillard will either accept victory or concede defeat, with opposition leader Tony Abbott doing the same, unless of course the poll is too close to call.
At this stage, the order of who will take first place on the political podium is anyone’s guess, though what is certain is Australia will have a new elected prime minister (as Gillard replaced Kevin Rudd during his term).
Such degree of certainty does not however look set to befall Australia’s financial services industry.
Depending on whose views you believe, the level of clarity as to where the industry will end up, even in the interim, seems more up in the air than before.
In the government’s caretaker role, little has been confirmed in terms of the state of play regarding its proposed changes under the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms.
The industry continues to be plagued by uncertainty over whether proposed opt-in rules will stick; unanswered questions still remain on exact fiduciary requirements; and there are doubts about whether proposed bans on commission payments and volume-based bonuses will include licensing arrangements between platform providers and dealer groups.
Concerns have also been raised over Labor’s push for expansion on intra-fund advice and its most recent, and possibly last, commentary in power, the green light for the Cooper review’s MySuper recommendation.
Many have indicated that Treasury will have draft legislation around its FOFA reforms and review recommendations before the end of the year.
Industry associations have pushed for all and sundry to contact their local members of parliament to bend their ear and get the message across, with a new push to get cosy with the Greens, which may end up holding the balance of power.
Though if the coalition assumes power, where does this leave the reforms?
The opposition has been remarkably quiet on its stance regarding Labor’s FOFA proposals. Little has been said in regards to policy, other than the uniform stance on opposing a ban on blanket commissions.
The coalition has also raised a few eyebrows over its stance, or lack thereof, on increasing Australia’s superannuation guarantee (SG) from 9 per cent to 12 per cent.
In the past 18 months, issues around superannuation and retirement have not been as prevalent as in 1992 when Australia adopted the scheme.
As the coalition has said so little about the SG, the industry’s attention has turned to its stance on commissions.
Will commissions be on an Abbott government’s agenda?
Will this throw the industry back 10 years? Will it leave the rogue participants within the industry simply nursing a slap on the wrist?
Many from the big end of town have gone on the record to say they will not reverse their fee-for-service stance, though if commissions are revived would the small end of town change its tune?
With less than three weeks to go, it seems time for the coalition to reveal its cards on the direction it will take the industry.
