Financial services professionals need to be much more aggressive and engaged with regulatory matters, according to the industry’s leading education body.

Financial Services Education Agency Australia GM Deen Sanders says there is scope and need for a parallel system of co-regulation, one that combines the ASIC role with “genuinely policeable” industry self-regulation.

He says the Federal Government is keen for the industry to take on more responsibility for policing its own conduct, but that doesn’t mean it is ready for complete self-regulation.

“Self-regulation is off the table for any time in the foreseeable future,” Mr Sanders told Sunrise Exchange News. However, recent legislation does allow for a level of combined regulatory effort.

Professional conduct is probably the main area in which financial planners and advisers should consider enhancing their self-regulatory processes. “The industry has a fairly poor track record at handling this,” he said.

The industry should also look at input regulation – who gets into the industry in the first place – and the processes they use once they’re in.