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CHANGING THE RULES The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has amended its rules to provide clarity for consumers and financial firms regarding its jurisdiction to receive complaints about the conduct of an authorised representative of an AFCA member. The rule changes were demanded by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) following the NSW Supreme Court’s judgement in DH Flinders Pty Ltd v Australian Financial Complaints Authority in November 2020. This case related to AFCA’s jurisdiction to consider a complaint against a licensee in relation to the conduct of its corporate authorised representative, specifically where the conduct of the representative was without or outside authority. The judgement highlighted that AFCA’s rules needed to be clearer to ensure that they reflected the same obligations and liabilities for licensees as set out in the Corporations Act. At ASIC’s direction, the rules now clearly reflect the same statutory liability for licensees regarding their authorised representatives as set out in the Corporations Act and the National Consumer Credit Protection Act.
ANZIIF.COM // ISSUE 02 2021 // JOURNAL
