The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has accepted an enforceable undertaking (EU) from UBS Wealth Management Australia (UBS WMA) to remedy past compliance failures in the provision of financial advice to retail clients.
According to ASIC, between January 2006 and March 2010 UBS WMA failed to provide Statements of Advice (SOAs) to 764 retail clients who invested in a category of financial products classified by the bank as structured products. The failure to provide SOAs had been extended to a number of other retail clients.
The EU offered by UBS WMA sets out how it intends to rectify these issues, and how it will establish a claims process for clients who potentially received personal financial product advice in circumstances where an SOA was required but not provided.
ASIC’s chairman, Tony D’Aloisio (pictured), said the EU has enabled the regulator to achieve three things.
“First, the EU provides a speedy process of redress and compensation for UBS WMA clients who suffered loss because they were not provided with an adequate SOA,” D’Aloisio said. “Secondly, it gives the executives and Board of UBS WMA a clear timetable within which to make improvements in the conduct of its advice business.”
D’Aloisio added that thirdly, the EU sent a broader message to the market that ASIC expected advisers to have proper systems in place to comply within the provisions of the Corporations Act relating to SOAs.
