The Government has announced that industry funding for
ASIC has passed into law.
The new funding model will see brokers and others regulated by ASIC foot the bill for the regulator through annual levies.
Currently, it is not known how much brokers will have to pay under the new model as so far there have only been indicative prices indicated by the Government. In order to calculate costs to brokers, ASIC’s budget needs to be analysed and it needs to be determined how much time and funding will be allocated to each sector.
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The industry funding model delivers on a recommendation from the 2014 Murray Financial System Inquiry, as well as a 2013 Senate Inquiry into ASIC’s performance. Greg Medcraft, ASIC chairman, welcomed the dawning of a new regulatory era.
“This is an important milestone not just for ASIC, but also for the companies and wider corporate sector that we regulate,” Medcraft said.
“Industry funding, in one form or another, applies to other areas of public oversight in Australia and in many comparable economies around the world. Not only will the different elements of the broad business sector more fairly share the load, but the taxpaying public will benefit through the more accountable use of the funds provided for the task.”
Dallas Booth, CEO of
NIBA, meanwhile, expressed concerns with the model.
“There are elements of the funding model that we have got real problems with but the Government is committed to moving ahead with the funding model that is put on the table so it is going to happen,” Booth told Insurance Business.
“Our main job is to make sure that across the various sectors of financial services, insurance brokers are not required to contribute an unfair proportion of the regulatory costs given that ASIC spends very considerable amounts of its time in other areas.”
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