07 Jun

Blog

From the  MFAA

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has announced that it will give financial firms, including credit businesses, time to update mandatory disclosure documentation with contact details about the new EDR scheme, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

The new authority will replace the two existing ASIC-approved EDR schemes, the Credit & Investments Ombudsman (CIO) and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), and will also incorporate the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT).

This relief allows affected finance broking businesses an extension of time to include this information in their disclosure documentation, including credit guides, by 1 July 2019 at the latest, while noting that AFCA will begin dealing with all complaints from 1 November 2018 including those previously lodged with the CIO or FOS. Good practice would be to amend credit guides at the time membership is recorded with AFCA. Businesses that are currently members of the CIO or the FOS will need to become members of AFCA by 21 September 2018. Questions about current EDR complaints should be directed to the CIO or FOS as appropriate.