Formation
of Finance Industry Council of
The formation of a new
Australian financial services council with a membership representing the
combined interests of Australia's foremost financial sector associations was
announced today.
The
Australian Bankers' Association (ABA), Australian Finance Conference (AFC),
Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA), Insurance Council of Australia
(ICA), Financial Planning Association (FPA) and the Investment and Financial
Services Association (IFSA) have joined forces as foundation members of FICA to
provide a focus for the discussion of the overarching international and domestic
issues affecting providers of financial services in Australia.
FICA's
members have financial assets under management, including banks and other
depositories and both the general and life insurance industries, which generate
around 8% of Australia's GDP.
FICA will
allow higher level responses to regulatory and market developments affecting the
overall sector, building upon the work done by the FICA constituents.
The Board Members of FICA are:
Mr Ron Hardaker, Executive Director, Australian Finance Conference
Ms Jo-Anne Bloch, CEO, Financial Planning Association
Ms Kerry Kelly, Executive Director, Insurance Council of Australia
Mr Duncan Fairweather, Executive Director, Australian Financial Markets
Association
Mr Richard Gilbert, CEO, Investment and Financial Services Association
The
Chair of FICA is Mr Richard Gilbert and the Secretary is Mr Ron Hardaker.
"The catalyst for the formation of FICA was essentially the unified and cooperative approach that the Australian financial services industry took to working through industry reform in the areas of corporate governance and reform of financial services legislation", said FICA Chair, Richard Gilbert.
“FICA's
constituents believe that its formation will play a major role in ensuring that
Australia remains a leading global financial services centre. FICA will advise
government of the effects on industry of emerging international and domestic
issues such as the costs of regulation and compliance for the financial services
industry as a whole”, concluded Mr Gilbert.
Objectives of the Council
The Objectives of the Council are:
To liaise
with and represent Financial Services Associations in fostering a
competitive, free and efficient market for financial services in
To
provide a forum for discussion of issues affecting the providers of
financial services in
To provide a forum for the development of research and ideas, and the presentation of papers, as well as to advance the financial services industry in Australia
To
provide a forum for Financial Services Associations to resolve areas of
policy overlap in the financial services industry
To
provide a forum for Financial Services Associations to air ideas and issues
relating to the provision of financial services
To
promote the depth and sophistication of Australia's financial markets
globally
Media Contacts:
| ABA | Heather Wellard, ABA Public Relations. | (Ph): 02 8298 0411 (M): 0409 830 439 |
| AFC | Ron Hardaker, Executive Director and FICA Secretary. | (Ph): 02 9231 5877 |
| AFMA | Duncan Fairweather, Executive Director | (Ph): 02 9776 7990 |
| FPA | Jonathan Granger, Media Adviser | (Ph): 02 9220 4506 |
| ICA | Paul Giles, General Manager, Communications | (M): 0415 131 005 |
| IFSA | Simon Disney, Senior Manager, Media and Communications. |
(Ph):
0408 161 466 |