AFCA names lead ombudsman for investments and advice

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority has confirmed the appointment of Shail Singh as its new lead ombudsman for investments and advice.

Singh had been acting in the role for 18 months.

AFCA deputy chief ombudsman June Smith noted that Singh had worked in dispute resolution for over a decade and also as a financial planner.

"He is a respected specialist in investments and advice complaints in areas such as financial planning, derivatives, managed funds, timeshare, cryptocurrency and stockbroking," she said.

"Shail has forged strong relationships with key stakeholders, initiating a financial advice liaison group and a cryptocurrency liaison group."

The new lead ombudsman earlier worked for WorkSafe Victoria and the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria.

He then trained and worked as a financial planner before becoming a case manager with an AFCA predecessor, the Financial Ombudsman Scheme, in 2010.

He was appointed ombudsman when AFCA opened its doors in November 2018, becoming senior ombudsman of investment and advice in 2021.

He stepped in as acting lead ombudsman in January 2022 when his predecessor, Natalie Cameron, became the lead ombudsman for banking and finance.

Said Singh: "I'm looking forward to continuing my work with firms to prevent disputes and to being involved in improving our systems and processes to deliver an even better dispute resolution service that is transparent, timely, efficient and above all fair."

He joins four other lead ombudsmen -  Cameron, Suanne Russell (small business), Emma Curtis (insurance) and Heather Gray (superannuation).

AFCA is on track to register about 100,000 complaints in the 2022-23 financial year and has secured $1 billion for complainants since its inception in November 2018.