The Financial Services Council (FSC), formerly IFSA, said it consulted other industry associations before expanding its mandate last week to engage more actively on economic policy, and that the move was not a grab for more members.

FSC chief executive, John Brogden, promised last week to “take it up to government” and lobby for policies which would benefit all financial services groups, such as a significantly increased population, an increased GST allowing for abolition of state taxes such as stamp duty on insurance policies, increasing participation rates for older workers and avoiding punitive regulations on financial companies such as those being considered in the US and UK.

A spokesperson for the FSC, Stephen Woodhill, said most industry associations represented fairly narrow sectional interests, and Brogden and the FSC board felt there was a role for lobbying on issues of national importance, such as the Resources Super Profits Tax, which also impacted the financial services industry.

He said that while the FSC’s new name and expanded mandate was not aimed at grabbing members away from other industry associations, he said it would be interesting to see whether the complexion of the FSC’s membership changed over the next few years.

Meanwhile, the FSC confirmed that its current chair, David Deverall, would remain until his term was due to expire, and a new chair elected at the FSC’s october annual general meeting. Deverall announced last week that he would be departing Perpetual after seven years as its CEO.