The story
The Credit and Investments Ombudsman was first established as the Mortgage Industry Ombudsman Service Limited (MIOS) on 18 June 2003 as an EDR (External Dispute Resolution, known in other regions as Alternative dispute resolution (ADR)) scheme.
It was established in 2003 as a result of the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia ('MFAA') self-regulation, originally called the Mortgage Industry Ombudsman Scheme (MIOS). It later expanded its remit to include non-bank lending and other credit services, changing its name to the Credit Ombudsman Service Limited (COSL) in 2004 to reflect this broader jurisdiction. In November 2014 the scheme name was changed to the Credit and Investments Ombudsman.
CIO was an approved EDR scheme under scheme approved by ASIC's Regulatory Guide RG 139 and its services were free for consumers. Funding was sourced from a combination of its membership fees and complaint fees paid by its participating Members. CIO could award compensation up to a maximum of $309,000 and other remedies, such as an apology, could be required.
On 1 November 2018, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) launched as the one ombudsman service for all financial complaints, replacing the Credit and Investment Ombudsman and two other predecessor schemes, the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal.
From Wikipedia’s article on Credit and Investments Ombudsman, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3