Legislation

Dissatisfied with the way in which financial advisers are being treated, the Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals (AIOFP) has taken a stand, launching a political movement to voice their concerns. The body says, “the current Coalition government have unfairly targeted financial advisers for their own political purposes. Consumers have become collateral damage by either…

China is far and away the world’s largest carbon dioxide emitter, accounting for close to 30% of global carbon emissions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) – double the 15% for the US and 9% for the European Union. Robeco’s Jie Lu has released a detailed research report which takes a thorough look at…

From being a ‘crypto critic’, Australia has quickly transformed itself to soon be a ‘crypto leader’ by proposing a framework for managing cryptocurrencies and crypto companies, in the biggest shakeup in the country’s payment systems in 25 years. Covid-19 showed us how quickly society digitised its payments systems with the onset of Afterpay and its…

“An Albanese Labor government will properly recognise your experience,” were the words of Labor spokesman Stephen Jones this week when presenting at the Independently Owned Financial Advisers in Australia (AIOFP) conference. The AIOFP has been among the staunchest critics of the massive increase in compliance and regulatory requirements being placed onto the sector, so it…

These days, becoming a financial adviser is no easy feat. Following the banking and financial services Royal Commission, the bar was raised, with higher education and professional standards put in place to lift the education, training and ethical standards of financial advisers. Financial advisers must be licensed (hold an AFSL) and new advisers must have…

“Undue complexity”. “Byzantine complexity”. “Elephantine proportions”. These are just a few of the superlatives used to describe one of Australia’s most important pieces of legislation, the Corporations Act 2001. The legislation turned 20 years old this year and whilst it has played an important role in simplifying the financial services landscape, few would disagree with…

The soon-to-be-disbanded Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) is finishing its reign with a flurry, announcing a review of the much-derided conflicts of interest Standard 3 of the recently enshrined law. Financial advisers and legal experts have raised concerns about the structure of the ethical standards sincetheir inception. In fact FASEA had received 37…

The recently passed Better Advice Act is still being filtered through both the regulator and the industry in general, but more specifics are quickly becoming available. There were three key changes as part of the new legislation, which included ASIC taking over as the Single Disciplinary Body from 1 January 2022. The Financial Services and…

After an incredibly busy few months for the financial advice industry, the regulatory structure and single disciplinary body is beginning to take shape. The passing of the Better Advice Bill finally disbanded the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA), passing the torch to ASIC’s Financial Services and Credit Panel. The FSCP will be tasked…

Exposure draft legislation for the long-awaited Better Advice Bill was released this week, with advisers gaining greater certainty into the future of the industry. The legislation marks the end of the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority, or FASEA, with ASIC itself set to take over from 1 January 2022 when the law is expected…

If you’re thinking of hiring an ultra-cool “finfluencer” to help redirect social media traffic to your website or to spruik your products or better yet, to share advice… you’d better rethink your marketing strategy because ASIC is about to make a stand on financial influencers. The regulator is currently undertaking a review of finfluencer behaviour…

Some positive news was delivered to the financial advice industry this week with the ASIC Supervisory Levy to be reduced to 2018-19 levels. The announcement will see levies charged to advisers providing advice to retail clients restored to $1,142 for both the 2021 and 2022 financial years. The government went further, also announcing the flat…