Regulation

The government addressed perceived ambiguity around advice fee deduction from member accounts by pulling out two statements from the bill that essentially duplicated rules that already exist in the sole purpose test.

The government’s line on its proposed changes to advice in super is incongruous with the actual changes. You can’t re-do the language embedded in the SIS Act while denying that anything will be different.

Just how thin the line that Berry walks becomes clear when he outlines the two paradoxical objectives of the CSLR. He has to highlight the worst in financial advice, while making it seem better and more trustworthy in the eyes of the public.

After the original Delivering Better Financial Outcomes bill was released in March, Treasury this week released an updated version for consultation. With minimal changes, there remains a significant bone of contention for the industry to wrestle with.

Like the Reserve Bank, ASIC is keenly aware that the rise of private markets, and especially private equity, creates both “upside and downside risks” to an efficient and fair economy. But it’s ASIC that sits in the first line of defence, and its new cohort of commissioners are determined to keep this burgeoning market clean.

Costs for the compensation scheme are spiralling out of control, with the FAAA estimating another $4,165 will be added to every adviser’s CSLR bill – bringing the estimated total to $5,709 – if the funding model isn’t re-examined.

ASIC’s successful case against the rogue “licensee for hire” serves as a timely reminder of what can happen when AFSLs aren’t on top of their compliance responsibilities. Here are ten tips to avoiding the same fate.

The government’s reform package may be flawed, but it’s crucial that the first tranche goes through parliament before the next election, Abood said. Further delays will stall vital investment in the financial advice industry.

It was assumed by industry that a glaring gaffe in the government’s draft legislation, which forces super funds to assess every piece of advice before deducting advice fees, would be amended in the final bill.

There are several bones of contention that the FAAA, and the industry more broadly, has with the compensation scheme’s settings, despite supporting it in principle. At the heart of it is the government’s repeated willingness to foist retrospective punishment on the good for the sins of the bad.

Advisers should treat Choice super performance as a “primary consideration,” the commissioner stated, while licensees should have “rigorous processes” for underperformance as part of their APL program.

Both illegal early access and SMSF suitability are known concerns of the regulator, but Sciacca noted that the driver of this review is ASIC’s desire to audit the efficacy of its earlier guidance on SMSF advice.