ASIC slow out of the blocks

Last Friday, the Senate Inquiry into the Performance of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission released their findings into the ‘Initial Submission by ASIC on Commonwealth Financial Planning Limited and related matters. This is a sorry tale of delays and missed opportunities for the regulator to get involved and protect investors from the behaviour we saw employees of Commonwealth Financial Planning Limited (CFPL) engage in, in the lead up to the GFC. Thanks to the actions of a few CFPL 'whistleblowers' (or employees doing the right thing by clients and shareholders) and the media, CFPL has paid out to date just over $50 million in compensation to 1,127 affected clients. There are a small number of cases still to be settled. Many of these investors were retirees or people making plans for what they hoped would be a secure financial retirement. They have been forced to live in a financial limbo from 2008 until CFPL came to the party and paid compensation. If the Governments stated aim is to have more and more of us plan for our own self funded retirement then we need an ASIC that is quicker to react.