Constitution and Terms of Reference - Final Update

Dear Participant,

Thank you again to those who provided a second round of feedback on the revised Constitution and Terms of Reference. The feedback was helpful and we made further changes based on it.

Where no comments were received on proposed changes, the Commission determined to proceed with the changes as drafted for the second consultation.

The Commission has now approved the changes. As required by section 65 of the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008 (the Act), we have notified the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs of the amended Constitution and Terms of Reference, for his approval.

When we have a response from the Minister, we will be able to finalise the implementation date and provide more specific information about what Participants need to do next.

The final proposed changes

The final changes primarily reflect law changes; align the TOR with the other Approved Dispute Resolution Schemes’ (ADRS) rules, particularly the monetary limits; implement the recommendations made by the last independent public review of the IFSO Scheme; and/or recognise modernised processes and procedures, as follows:

TOR:

increasing the proposed Applicable Monetary Limit to $2,625 plus GST for claims relating to regular payments (down from the proposed $6,700 plus GST) and $350,000 plus GST in other cases (down from the proposed $500,000 plus GST); and
clarifying the IFSO Scheme’s decision-making process; and
increasing the amount that can be awarded for special inconvenience to $5,000.

Constitution:

amending the process for selecting Commission Members to better reflect the current membership of the IFSO Scheme; and
clarifying Participants’ obligations to provide their customers with a “bona fide” complaints process, including how they provide information to consumers.

Final proposed documents:

Constitution Amended Final Consultation June 2023

Constitution Summary of Submissions to Commission June 2023

TOR Final Consultation June 2023

TOR Table Summary of Submissions to Commission June 2023