ASIC has updated regulatory guides RG 165 and RG 139 to cover making complaints about trustee companies from 1 January 2012.

The updated guidance outlines what businesses which provide traditional trustee company services (traditional services businesses) must do to have a compliant dispute resolution system, so customers and beneficiaries can access internal dispute resolution (IDR) and external dispute resolution (EDR) complaints avenues.

In addition to court, customers and beneficiaries will be able to complain directly to their traditional services business using IDR procedures, or to the ASIC-approved EDR scheme to which the business belongs (e.g. the Financial Ombudsman Service Limited).

The updated regulatory guidance applies to the 28 businesses listed at Schedule 8AA of the Corporations Regulations 2001 which must meet the dispute resolution requirements (unless they operate under transitional arrangements and consolidate their traditional services business with an existing licensee’s business before 1 January 2012).