The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has, for the first time, cancelled the licences of two financial service providers for not joining the Australian Financial Complaints Authority scheme, an amalgam of the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Credit and Investments Ombudsman organisation and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal.

The two bodies (Sydney Business Accountingand AG Calleia & Co) hailed from New South Wales and ought to have joined by 21 September last year. ASIC believes that AFCA is crucial for the protection of Australia’s financial consumers from sharp practice and/or the consequences of their own ineptitude.