'One stop' all EDR rot for CIO followers
A myriad of smaller financiers and fringe firms are gearing up for a lobbying campaign to block or reset the proposed "one stop shop" for dispute resolution.Six industry associations covering hundreds of firms aligned with the Credit and Investments Ombudsman scheme yesterday called on the government "to abandon its plans to establish a single monopoly EDR scheme."Three of these are the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia, the Customer Owned Banking Association and the Australian Collectors and Debt Buyers Association. This trio represent a minority of the CIO's 23,000 members, but the vast majority of the most well known financial sector names that prefer this scheme.The CIO's backers are building their case for a form of the status quo around competition and efficiency themes, drawing on differences in the business models of CIO and the Financial Ombudsman Service, especially their sources of revenues.The Australian government earlier this month endorsed the final report of the Ian Ramsay-led review into dispute resolution and complaints.In line with the thinking of the Ramsay panel, the government will push ahead, via legislation, to roll three existing schemes into and set up, like the two largest schemes, as a company limited by guarantee.For now, the proposed Australian Financial Complaints Authority remains a centrepiece of the broader package of banking measures bundled into this year's budget.Amid the routine hubbub of calls from the Labor party, Greens and others for a Royal Commission into banking the government cites the Complaints Authority, as evidence that "Australian consumers and small businesses with complaints against banks getting action, getting a result, right now," a line from an answer from Malcolm Turnbull to Bill Shorten in parliament this week."There have been many reviews and inquiries, Turnbull reminded Shorten."It will give them the opportunity to be heard and to get a result."It may take support from the Labor opposition, Greens and a range of cross-bench senators to usurp the one stop shop, a policy championed by consumer groups.With the liability levy the hot banking topic since the budget, there's not much on the record on where each of these political interests leans on the AFCA.Labor, in its budget response, said "simply rebadging existing complaints bodies will do nothing to stop the wrongdoing that has led to thousands of Australians being ripped off by their banks or financial advisers."In other words, Labor - as it has now for 15 months - is campaigning hard still for the Royal Commission.A closer scrutiny of the options and costs relevant to any "result", as Turnbull framed things, feature in the arguments of the six industry associations, who on the whole aim to rerun their best, albeit discounted, arguments from the Ramsay review."A 'one-stop shop' ombudsman scheme, which is a monopoly, is likely to be less accountable to stakeholders and less responsive to industry's legitimate concerns," the six associations said.This group said that "large financial firms" (code words by the CIO's supporters for big banks) that are members of FOS, "will be the main beneficiaries of the single