Treasurer puts a mega-ombudsman proposal on the table
It wasn't only ASIC that came in for some TLC from the Government yesterday. The Treasurer flagged some changes to the external dispute resolution system, including a proposal for a "one-stop shop" for consumer complaints.The Government has asked the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to work with the Financial Ombudsman Service on a review of its small business jurisdiction, with a view to including a wider range of business loans in FOS's jurisdiction.The Government has also increased funding for the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal by A$5.2 million to help deal with its complaints backlog and improve its processes.The Government will establish a panel of eminent persons to review the role, powers and governance of all the financial system's external dispute resolution and complaints schemes. One possible outcome is integration of the schemes to create a "one-stop shop". The idea is take complexity out of the EDR process.Financial Ombudsman Service chief executive Shane Tregillis said he looked forward to working with ASIC and the panel of eminent persons on these issues.Tregillis also made a pitch for the introduction of a compensation scheme of last resort (for compensation payments to consumers in cases where the financial service provider can't or won't pay), saying the panel should include this in its review."FOS has consistently argued this clear gap should be addressed so that consumers can have confidence that if things go wrong, they will be compensated when a decision is made by FOS in their favour," Tregillis said.Credit and Investments Ombudsman chief executive Raj Venga cast doubt on the integration proposal."We see significant value in having more than one scheme, which has enriched the contributions of EDR to a range of policy and law reform initiatives. EDR schemes within and across sectors learn from each other and together encourage and inspire innovation," Venga said.