Legislation

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) was established in 1 November 2018, combining the Financial Ombudsman Service, Credit and Investments Ombudsman (CIO) and Superannuation Complains Tribunal (SCT) into a more efficient and well resourced group. Covering most aspects of the financial services industry, the data was naturally tilted towards complaints against the banking sector and…

The Financial Sector Reform Bill (Hayne Royal Commission Response No. 2) Bill finally passed both houses of Parliament on Friday, as the professional standards expected of the financial advice industry continue to increase. The bill includes three significant changes for the industry, each aimed at protecting clients against the “fees for no service” debacle that…

People talk about the importance of taking the time to build a platform for any endeavour. If that’s the case for developing a commercial mass-market range of retirement solutions, Allianz and PIMCO have given themselves a head start with their platform – Allianz Retire+. Starting in 2015 in PIMCO’s Sydney office, the notion of putting…

The issue of retirement income has arguably become far too politicised in recent years, with rational debate seemingly scarce. While the focus inevitably falls on the political football that is superannuation, the Age Pension doesn’t get the attention it deserves. The federal government’s retirement income review, released late last year, showed that the pension will…

It may be a lull between storms but the SMSF Association has no major political battle to contend with at the moment, instead focusing on smaller issues to do with regulatory change and embarking on new research about small funds’ performance in case that becomes an issue in future. John Maroney, the association’s chief executive,…

The recently announced Your Future, Your Super proposed performance test has raised concerns on the potential of unintended consequences in the government’s pursuit of better performing funds. Clearly, the government is squarely focused on the relationship of fees and performance against a standard asset allocation framework. However, many pundits believe the current proposal would see…

The beginning of 2020 has been dominated by headlines of mass adviser departures from the industry, with the number of registered advisers having fallen to levels of five years ago. While this may make for great headlines, it says little about the progress being made in the professionalisation of the financial advice industry, particularly in…

To say the last few years have been testing for advisers would be a gross understatement. The reverberations of the Hayne Royal Commission, which highlighted important issues, though mainly those faced by vertically integrated institutions, has led to a big increase in compliance costs and regulatory hurdles. The result in many cases has been the…

It was a busy day for the Federal Government, announcing the proposal to disband FASEA, introduce lack of independence disclosure requirements and then finally, introduce a new fee disclosure regime. Advisers had been hit with an increasingly complicated set of rules when it came to receiving fee payments from ongoing clients. A combination of grandfathering,…

2021 may be shaping up as the ‘Year of the Financial Adviser’. After what has been a tumultuous and stressful few years for the industry, promises of a more streamlined regulatory framework may finally be coming to fruition. Assistant Minster for Superannuation and Financial Services, Jane Hume, and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg had a business day…

Whether it’s due to the long delay on Parliamentary sittings or the realisation that financial advisers had become regulatory gymnasts, it seems the tide is starting to turn on financial advice. The establishment of the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) and requirements for any financial advisers who provided ‘tax’ advice to be registered was no doubt…

The reshaping of the Australian financial advisery industry continued on Friday, with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) releasing details on its new approach to “insurance claims and handling businesses.” The legislation resulted from a recommendation during the Royal Commission and seeks to increase the professionalism and transparency for all parties involved in advising…