The collapse of Queensland investment firm Storm Financial could not have been prevented by ASIC.

Bernie Ripoll, Chairman of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, says preventing the collapse of financial services companies such as Storm is not something ASIC is capable of doing.

“It’s important to understand that ASIC is not a prudential regulator,” he told the Institute of Actuaries of Australia conference in Sydney last week. “It is heavily dependent on complaint reporting from individual investors.

“And it is constrained by the sheer size of the sector and limited power to intervene.”

Mr Ripoll says the committee is reviewing the role and responsibilities of ASIC and whether or not the regulations in place need to be enforced in different ways.

The review will also look at the consequences of decisions made by consumers and whether they are taking responsibility for their own actions.