Member complaints and discipline

Commencement date: 1 December 2016

Please note that:

  • if you are seeking to resolve a dispute about the advice or financial services that you have received, then you should in the first instance direct your complaint to the Licensee through its complaint procedure.
  • Stockbrokers and Investment Advisers Association can only deal with complaints about its Members. Please review the list of our Members and read the information below before proceeding.

Stockbrokers in Australia must satisfy the most exacting regulatory standards of any sector of the financial services industry.

Stockbrokers are subject to regulations and standards under

  • The Corporations Act
  • The Market Integrity Rules
  • Exchange Rules, such as ASX and Chi-X Rules.

Under Australian law, the holder of an Australian Financial Services Licence is required to have a process for handling complaints about the financial services that it provides, and to be a member of an External Dispute Resolution scheme to deal with complaints that cannot be resolved internally. Details of this will be contained in the Financial Services Guide that would be been provided to customers.

If you are seeking to resolve a dispute about the advice or financial services that you have received, then you should in the first instance direct your complaint to the Licensee through its complaint procedure.

Separate and additional to the above requirements, the Stockbrokers and Investment Advisers Association is a professional body which sets professional, ethical and educational standards for its members.

The aim of these standards is to give investors confidence that, when they deal with a member of the Stockbrokers and Investment Advisers Association, they are dealing with a person who exhibits the highest level of professionalism and integrity, and the services that they receive will be of a high quality.

SIAA’s professional, ethical and education standards are contained in:

In order to ensure that its standards are met, SIAA has established a Complaints Handling Process and a Conduct Review and Disciplinary System (CRDS) to investigate and determine complaints against members as well as any other referral involving the conduct of a member.

By becoming a member of SIAA, the member agrees to be bound by SIAA’s Complaints Handling Process and the CRDS.

Please view the Conduct Review and Disciplinary System.

Lodging a Complaint Against a Member

Complaints may be made in person. You do not need to be a client of a stockbroker to lodge a complaint.

The Complaint must be made in writing using the SIAA Complaints Form and addressed to:
Chief Executive
Stockbrokers and Investment Advisers Association
Level 2, 74 Pitt Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Or via email:
[email protected]

The complaint should identify:

  • the Member against whom the complaint is made;
  • a description of the complaint;
  • the name and contact details of the complainant.

SIAA Complaints Summary

The following provide statistics of the nature of complaints against members of the Stockbrokers and Investment Advisers Association and actions taken against those members. The statistics are records on the basis of a Membership Year to June 30.

Nature of Complaint

The table below records the nature of complaints brought against members of the Stockbrokers and Investment Advisers Association. The nature of complaints have been categorised into ten categories, with the number of complaints recorded in each particular category in the relevant membership years.

2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
Breach of SIAA Code of Ethical Conduct 0 0 0
Breach of SIAA Constitution or Rules 0 0 0
Failure to comply with educational standards, including continuing professional development requirements 0 0 0
Unethical behaviour with respect to dealing with a member of the public 0 0 0
Failure to observe reasonable standard of competence and diligence 3 0 0
Unsatisfactory professional conduct 1 0 0
Bankruptcy 0 0 0
Conduct in connection with a criminal offence 0 0 0
Conduct in connection with a taxation offence 0 0 0
Other complaints 0 1 0
Actions taken

The table below records the action taken by the Stockbrokers and Investment Advisers Association against those members that have had a complaint brought against them. The action is recorded only once the SIAA Compliance Manager has fully investigated the complaint and determined the most appropriate course of action.

2020/21
2021/22 2022/23
Cancellation of membership 0 0 0
Suspension of Specialist Designation or Membership for a defined period 0 0 0
Reprimand 0 0 0
Counselling or correction order 0 0 0
Fine 0 0 0
No action required 3 Complaints either resolved by member firm or by AFCA deciding in favour of member firm. 1 Complaint resolved by member firm 0
*Investigation ongoing 0 0 0


*These matters are being dealt with in accordance with the member’s internal dispute resolution process or are with AFCA and are not at this stage subject to investigation by SIAA.