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It came as a relief instrument rather than the expected guidance note, but ASIC’s move still managed to give advisers the surety they need to legally use the FSG exemption.

Despite the high levels of demand, there are still very few providers that cater specifically to expats. It’s a problem Edward Cole identified early on, and sought to rectify in three main markets.

It was a long and circuitous route to financial planning for the busy mother, but after seeing the harm financial distress could cause, Amie Baker was determined to help people stand on their own two feet.

It doesn’t matter whether funds mislead investors with intent or not, and it doesn’t matter if other parties were partly to blame. The authorities have had enough of the excuses, and they’re lobbing record fines at transgressors.

AMP will reduce the headcount across its superannuation and North platform businesses and press ahead with changes to its redundancy policies even as the Finance Sector Union warns that “staff deserve better”.

After 21 years building up Pitcher Partners’ wealth management division into a $3.6 billion powerhouse, the high-profile adviser will break from the firm to create an advice group focused on servicing HNW clients and their families.

The ATO has dug its heels in, and is firm in its belief that upfront advice should remain classed as capital expenditure. But the FAAA did gain a significant concession around tax (financial) advice provision.

It’s odd that of the 12 published submissions to APRA’s consultation on hybrids, not one advocated getting rid of them altogether. Is the regulator trying to protect banks and retail investors from themselves, or is it simply “jumping at shadows”?

The shift in focus from financial advisers to research consultants continues apace, both here and abroad, as asset managers follow the great money management migration.

The Bill comes after a report from the Council of Financial Regulators warned that the financial system’s reliance on financial market infrastructure had “significantly increased” following the 2008 global financial crisis and subsequent reforms.

In the Dixon’s inquiry vertical integration will not only be writ large, but it will have thousands of victims’ names attached to it. The practice has run relatively unfettered for years, but that may be about to change.

It’s essential that we learn from the Dixons Advisory scandal, the FAAA chief said, so we can avoid future harm. The association has asked the government to consider a full inquiry into the case, while advisers contemplate the financial toll ahead of them.