International Law

ASIC has approved the new Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

FOS will represent the merger of the three biggest complaints schemes operating in the financial services industry ? the Financial Industry Complaints Service (FICS), the Banking and Financial Ombudsman Service (BFSO) and the Insurance Ombudsman Service (IOS).

Together, FICS, BFSO and IOS deal with most consumer complaints about financial services and cover the vast majority of retail financial services providers, including banks, credit unions, life and general insurance companies, stockbrokers, investment managers and financial planners. Between them, the schemes dealt with about 10,000 consumer disputes in the last reporting period and over 100,000 telephone enquiries.

FOS will be operational from 1 July 2008. In the first instance, FOS will continue to operate the rules and procedures of the three existing schemes, with a view to operating under a single set of rules no later than 1 January 2010.

Consumers and investors who want to refer a complaint to FOS can contact the scheme by calling  1300 780 808  .