regulation

Features

Mike Taylor writes that the creation of the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority has brought the financial planning industry to another crossroad on its journ...

Financial planning

Bank employees union rejects ABA ‘bad apple’ protocol

The Finance Sector Union wants an independent Government regulator to handle background checks and other protocols aimed at weeding out financial services bad apples....

Financial planning

ASIC fixes full AFSL regulatory anomaly

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has fixed a regulatory anomaly which was unjustifiably hindering full AFSL-holders in delivering tax-exempt advice....

Policy & Regulation

Bank levy gone from bad tax to secret tax

The ABA has expressed angst over the Government’s move to force the major banks’ senior executives to sign confidentiality agreements before releasing the legislation....

Policy & Regulation

The regulatory loophole used by debt advisers

Debt management advisers are operating via a regulatory loophole and need to adhere to the same regulatory standards as financial planners, a parliamentary committee has...

Life/Risk

CommInsure claims clean bill of health

CommInsure has told a Parliamentary Committee it has a clean bill of health with respect to allegations over missing or altered documents within its Medical Officers Refe...

Editorial

Why an ASIC product-intervention power should be welcomed

Financial services product manufacturers should be prepared to stand behind their offerings and ensure they are directed to the right consumers by the right people....

Editorial

One rule for all

Wayne Leggett explains why it is mortgage brokers, not planners, who have the upper hand in terms of influencing the amount of money they manage....

Policy & Regulation

Stand-alone act needed for whistleblowers

A robust and independent whistleblowing process needs to replace the current act to help employees feel comfortable about fearlessly reporting misconduct, the Governance ...

Superannuation

Parliament told: Don’t bail out bad SMSF decision-makers

SMSF trustees who make bad decisions should be responsible for their choices and be denied access to an industry-funded compensation fund, according to the SMSF Owner’s A...

Financial planning

Aussie advisers most affected by regulation

Australian advisers reported feeling most challenged by their professional environment due to regulatory and compliance burden, compared to the rest of the world....

Superannuation

SMSFs are not unregulated

The SMSF Association has sought to dispel the myth that self-managed superannuation funds were unregulated just because they did not fall under the umbrella of APRA. ...

Funds management

Charitable investment fundraisers regulation tightened

ASIC has tightened the regulatory framework for charities that raise investment funds, following a review of their activities. ...

Financial planning

Varying quality in IPO due diligence

ASIC has found a close correlation between defective disclosure in a prospectus and poor due diligence in IPO issuers....

Editorial

Time to better regulate aged care

There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that the aged care industry needs the same sort of regulatory oversight as financial planning, including a best interests d...