Complaining to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) about a financial services business has just become easier.

ASIC maintains a public register of all businesses licensed to conduct financial services in Australia. Now information contained on the register will include details of the external dispute resolution (EDR) schemes each licensee belongs to.

ASIC Executive Director of Consumer Protection Greg Tanzer says all licensed financial services businesses dealing with retail clients must belong to an EDR scheme approved by ASIC.

The seven ASIC-approved EDR schemes covering different sectors of the financial services industry are the Banking and Financial Services Ombudsman; the Credit Ombudsman Service; the Credit Union Dispute Resolution Centre; the Financial Co-operative Dispute Resolution Scheme; the Financial Industry Complaints Service; Insurance Brokers Disputes; and the Insurance Ombudsman Service.

Between them, the EDR schemes deal with more than 100,000 complaints and enquiries from consumers and investors each year, and all participate in a common call centre for initial enquiries and complaints from consumers and investors.