The Australian Parliament has legislated to set up a new financial complaints authority, with operations to begin no later than 1st November.

The new body will be a one-stop-shop dispute resolution scheme that will replace the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal, the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Credit and Investments Ombudsman.

The operator of the scheme will require ministerial authorisation and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission will keep a superintending eye over it. In order to maintain access to external dispute resolution for consumers in the days before the new body opens its doors, ASIC will monitor firms' compliance with existing external dispute resolution scheme requirements as well as the effectiveness of scheme operations.

Firms that belong to the CIO and the FOS - including licensees and credit representatives - must continue to maintain their "external dispute resolution membership" through this period, paying membership and other scheme fees in full as required. ASIC has asked the two schemes to tell it if any firms are failing to do so.

A memorandum of understanding between the CIO and the FOS will prevent members inappropriately moving between the schemes in the transitionary period.