A speech by Peter Kell, Deputy Chairman, Australian Securities and Investments Commission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into the state of competition in the Australian Financial System: Roundtable (Melbourne, Australia) on 29 June 2017
ASIC welcomes the Productivity Commission Inquiry into competition in the Australian financial system, and we are pleased to appear before the Productivity Commission today.
I have a brief opening statement which outlines some areas ASIC suggests the Commission could consider in response to the Inquiry’s terms of reference. We look forward to providing more detail in our submission.
Fundamentally we consider competition is about enhancing the long-term interests of consumers.
We believe an important focus for the Inquiry is how to improve:
- Consumer choice – for example, innovative or new products and services
- Consumer access – such as reduced barriers to switching
- Consumer decision making – enabling informed and confident consumers
- Consumer outcomes – with lower prices, products and services that meet consumer needs, and good conduct by firms.