Financial Services and Credit Panel (FSCP)
The Financial Services and Credit Panel (FSCP) is a pool of industry participants, appointed by the responsible Minister, that ASIC draws upon when forming individual sitting panels.
The FSCP operates separately from, but alongside, ASIC’s existing administrative decision-making processes. The statutory functions and powers of the FSCP are set out in the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response – Better Advice) Act 2021 and regulations. The pool of appointed industry participants is listed in the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Financial Services and Credit Panels) Determination 2022.
A sitting panel will be convened by ASIC to consider certain suspected misconduct by, or circumstances relating to, a financial adviser. Each sitting panel comprises of an ASIC staff member and at least two members from the FSCP.
ASIC must convene a sitting panel in circumstances prescribed in regulation 12N of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Regulations 2001. For example, ASIC must convene a sitting panel where we reasonably believe that a financial adviser is not a fit and proper person to provide advice or a financial adviser becomes an insolvent under administration and ASIC is aware of this.
A sitting panel has a range of powers that enable it to respond to a range of misconduct. These powers include:
- the power to direct financial advisers to undertake specified training, counselling, supervision or report certain matters to ASIC;
- the power to suspend or prohibit a financial adviser’s registration;
- the power to issue infringement notices in specified circumstances;
- the power to recommend that ASIC commence civil penalty proceedings; and
- the power to accept enforceable undertakings from financial advisers.
The FSCP Outcomes Register contains decisions of the FSCP and a brief explanation of the background to the decisions.
For less serious misconduct, ASIC is not required to convene a sitting panel, but must issue a warning or reprimand if we do not propose to convene a sitting panel or exercise our other enforcement powers.
More information
- See Regulatory Guide 263 Financial Services and Credit Panel (RG 263) for the principles and processes relating to the FSCP.
- See Information Sheet 270 Warnings and reprimands (INFO 270) for guidance about when ASIC will issue a warning or reprimand.
- See also Information Sheet 273 FSCP decisions: Your rights (INFO 273)
- See Information Sheet 276 FAQs: Registration of relevant providers (INFO 276)
