Alleged life/risk churn still on ASIC’s agenda
High levels of life/risk adviser churn has been identified as a new project towards which the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has directed additional funding it has received from the Federal Government.
Answering a question on notice during recent Senate Estimates Committee hearings, ASIC revealed the renewed level of interest in life/risk churn with its answer to a question from Tasmanian Liberal Senator, David Bushby revealing that it ranked as a new project alongside accountants providing unlicensed advice.
The regulator also revealed continuing attention towards “fee for no service” as being an ongoing project together with attention to life insurance statements of advice and breach reporting by the major banks.
ASIC’s attention on so-called “churn” within the life/risk sector comes despite the level of work carried out in the Life Insurance Framework (LIF) and suggestions that the new commissions framework has largely eliminated scope for churn.
The Federal Government provided an additional $121 million for ASIC in last year’s Budget.
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