Consultation Paper Released On New EDR Scheme

Recently the Australian Government has released a consultation paper for Financial Service Providers ("FSPs") to submit responses to the proposed External Dispute Resolution ("EDR") framework.

As part of the proposed new scheme a single dispute resolution body will be established called the Australian Financial Complaints Authority ("AFCA") which will replace the Financial Ombudsman Service ("FOS"), Credit and Investments Ombudsman ("CIO") and the Superannuation Complains Tribunal ("SCT"). It is believed that AFCA will be operational from 1 July 2018 with all FSP's required to be members.

The new EDR sceme will give ASIC additional powers for oversight and monitoring while FSP's will need to adhere to enhanced transparency and accountability of Internal Dispute Resolution ("IDR") processes.

2 new bills will be introduced to parliament as a result of the proposed change. The Treasury laws Amendment (External Dispute Resolution) Bill 2017 and Treasury Laws Amendment (External Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2017.

The closing date for submissions on the scheme is 14 June 2017.

Source: Independent Financial Adviser - Government Introduces New EDR Scheme