PriceWaterhouseCoopers to monitor PIS compliance

One of the largest dealer groups in the country, Professional Investment Services (PIS), will be monitored on compliance for the next nine months, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has announced.  

The 2010 Enforceable Undertaking (EU) the regulator accepted from PIS had concluded earlier this year, but ASIC was concerned that the group’s compliance and audit functions required further work. 

The program, which will ensure the standards from the 2010 EU are met, will test compliance of PIS’ personal advice with regulatory requirements, PIS’ ability to identify poor advice and the effectiveness of its advice audit and pre-vet functions. 

PIS chief executive officer and managing director of its parent company Centrepoint Alliance, John de Zwart, said the group had voluntarily entered into the monitoring program, appointing PriceWaterhouseCoopers as the independent expert. 

“The team has made good progress in changing the culture, improving the training, and enhancing the systems and processes to improve the quality of advice provided to our clients,” de Zwart said. 

“We have undertaken a complete redesign of our compliance processes, training, recruitment and governance, along with a suite of new advice tools and a series of key appointments, which are all part of our ongoing strategy.” 

Despite shedding large numbers of advisers over the last three years, PIS remains one of Australia’s largest financial planning firms with 527 advisers currently working under its licence. 

ASIC deputy chair Peter Kell recognised the positive response of PIS to the concerns identified, encouraging all financial services licensees to undertake robust testing of their processes to ensure consumers get high-quality advice.  

“ASIC is focused on ensuring advisers do the right thing, so we will require further compliance reviews if we have concerns that advice standards are not consistently at appropriate levels,” Kell said. 

The regulator acknowledged the work done by PIS as a result of the EU, stating the monitoring program would provide an opportunity to assess “whether the implementation of the recommendations at the EU’s conclusion have been effective”.