Ross Cameron, the new Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, has undertaken to take a look at the recently altered financial services guide (FSG) regulations. National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) CEO Noel Pettersen, who briefed Mr Cameron last week, said there is a growing understanding that the FSG regulations have moved significantly from the original policy governing commission disclosure.

Mr Cameron has only been in the job since last month’s Cabinet ministerial reshuffle, so the FSR portfolio he administers is all new ground to him – not a particularly considerate move by the Prime Minister as licensing issues become more important.

Mr Pettersen said the discussion was “pleasant but robust”, and Mr Cameron undertook to look at the whole commission disclosure issue as it relates to insurance brokers. “We can’t hope for more than that at this stage of things,” he said. “There’s a growing awareness that the new regulations aren’t consistent with the Government’s previously stated intentions.”

Under the new disclosure regulations – which actually form part of the Corporations Act and against which NIBA has been arguing for months – the FSG would need to contain unnecessary levels of disclosure about commissions. “Brokers are competing against the direct insurers, and a move like this would place us at a disadvantage.”

Mr Pettersen is emphatic that the only objection is to disclosure in the FSG. “We’re supportive of the need for full disclosure in the statement of advice.”