The Financial Industry Complaints Service (FICS) has launched a new conciliation process in response to the findings of an independent review released earlier this year. The announcement was made in its latest annual review.

CEO Alison Maynard says “conciliation conferences” have been introduced to speed up alternative dispute resolution, a move made more compelling by an influx of membership applications since the introduction of the Financial Services Reform Act in March. Memberships last year jumped 31% to 2335.

“Conciliation conferences provide a speedy dispute resolution and offer an alternative to the formal determination process of the FICS panel or adjudicator,” she said.

FICS has appointed two full-time panel chairs to assist with the new process – former Insurance Enquiries and Complaints referee Michael Arnold and Michael Croyle, who was formerly working as a barrister at the Victorian Bar.

During 2003, FICS handled more than 9500 telephone enquiries and complaints and received 1038 written complaints.