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The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is a private company limited by guarantee, Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd, providing an external dispute resolution service for the financial services industry. It is approved by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).〔''Corporations Act 2001'' (Cth) s 912A〕 FOS provides services to the financial industry participants and consumers, including some small businesses, who are unable to resolve disputes with financial services providers that are members of the scheme. Membership to an approved dispute resolution scheme is compulsory for most financial service providers under the corporations legislation.〔 However membership of FOS is open to any financial services provider carrying on business in Australia, including providers not required to join an external dispute resolution scheme. Over 16,800 Australian financial services providers are members of scheme. The service is described as being free to consumers as some costs are met by the scheme members and is an alternative to going to court to lodge a dispute. Presumably, members price in the costs of their respective contributions into the price of their financial services and products. Members often do continue to make use of lawyers and their own experienced dispute teams. Thus, consumers variously may need to consult their own legal advisers, at their own discretion and cost. Notably the service is capped in the amounts of money it is able to award consumers when issuing opinions. ==History== FOS was established on 1 July 2008 following the merger of the Financial Industry Complaints Service (FICS) with the Banking and Financial Services Ombudsman (BFSO) and Insurance Ombudsman Service (IOS); all of which were Industry Self-Regulatory bodies. In the early 1990s the banking industry had lobbied legislators and relevant decision makers strongly for industry self-regulation. The Credit Union Dispute Resolution Service and Insurance Brokers Disputes Ltd joined FOS in January 2009. FOS and its predecessor schemes have operated for over 20 years, providing dispute resolution services in the financial services sector. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Financial Ombudsman Service (Australia)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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