Superannuation law expert Michelle Levy will chair an inquiry into the quality and affordability of financial advice. 

Ms Levy has made a career as a leading corporate adviser to banks and wealth managers. She will soon begin a new project as the leader of a year-long review urged by Royal Commissioner Kenneth Hayne in his final report in February 2019.

Ms Levy is an expert on Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act, which ASIC chairman Joe Longo says is too complex.

She is also a member of the Law Council of Australia’s superannuation committee and was previously a partner at King & Wood Mallesons.

She will run a probe that will assess whether ethics and standards in the troubled advice industry have improved in the three years since a royal commission into the matter. 

The government says it will depart from Commissioner Hayne’s edict by expanding the scope of the inquiry to include a focus on the accessibility of financial advice services. Also, while Commissioner Hayne said it should be the job of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the review has been handed to the Treasury instead. 

Current data shows professional advice is dwindling, with the number of licensed individuals expected to drop to 13,000 by 2023 – a fall of 50 per cent on the number of licensed practitioners before the royal commission.

Reports say the reduction in the number of professional advisers has sparked a rise in financial fraud, with criminals targeting the growing field of unadvised Australians.