FINANCIAL REGULATORS UNDER SCRUTINY IN TRIO CAPITAL CASE

THE Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) are as much on trial as anyone in the Trio Capital case currently before the NSW Supreme Court, Independent MP for Lyne Robert Oakeshott said today.
“Several residents on the Mid-North Coast have lost their entire retirement savings from the behaviour that is currently being revealed through the court examination, and these local people are quite rightly furious,” Mr Oakeshott said.
“Not only are they furious about the antics of the individuals involved, but they are rightly asking how on earth such people got licences to operate in the financial sector within Australia, and what on earth both ASIC and APRA did to protect retirement savings for many investors.
“There are many questions about the regulators that stem from this NSW Supreme Court action and, from what has emerged so far, many an alarm bell should be ringing on the way current regulation is performed.
”It has been found wanting, it has failed many individual retirees and, as a consequence, has changed many people’s lives for the worse.
“Future policy needs to improve on what is being exposed by this case right now, and by the looks of it, we need greater policy consideration of APRA and ASIC’s approval and monitoring of financial licensing in Australia today,” Mr Oakeshott said.