The FPA has called on the Government not to turn its current inquiry into recent corporate collapses in Australia into a witch-hunt.
Last week, the Government announced that the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services Inquiry will examine recent corporate collapses, including that of Storm Financial and Opes Prime.
The role of financial advisers, remuneration structures such as fees and commissions and current licensing arrangements for providers and advisers will also be examined.
"We call on the Government to ensure that this inquiry is fair and open. A witch-hunt or an attempt to enable one sector to get a competitive advantage over another will not achieve anything," FPA chief executive Jo-Ann Bloch said.
"FPA members were not involved in Opes Prime or Lehman Bros and the Royal Bank of Scotland. To even imply that financial planners are the cause of all the named 'and other' corporate failures in Australia is offensive and misguided."
Bloch said media and parliamentary commentary has already revealed a worrying misunderstanding of the role of financial advisers and the causes behind the named corporate collapses.
"This indicates we may not get a fair hearing and people are already jumping to conclusions."
