ASIC and APRA often cop flak from various quarters including from us and so today for something different we train our sights on the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK What the FCA has said about providing personal advice to retail clients is interesting debatable and likely to induce a strong ...

At the same time as more international issuers appear to be looking at international programme formats for their Australian dollar issuance so Australian borrowers are contemplating the use of EMTN programmes even for their domestic currency issuance ...

The Corporations Act 2001 Cth was amended in 2004 to include an additional obligation for Australian financial services licensees to have in place adequate arrangements for the management of conflicts of interest that may arise in relation to the activities undertaken by the licensees in the ...

Exposure draft life insurance regulations were released yesterday They are a marked departure from the existing conflicted remuneration provisions Now a benefit can only be conflicted remuneration if it could reasonably be expected to influence financial product advice These regulations will create ...

A director of a bank life company or general insurer who read APRAs recent information paper on risk culture could be excused for indulging in a wry smile Since mid-2015 he or she has been subject to legislative obligations concerning risk culture However the information paper suggests that APRA is ...

The ASIC Enforcement Review Taskforce members and terms of reference have been announced The terms of reference are very broad and come as no surprise with an emphasis on evaluating the adequacy of ASICs enforcement toolkit We analyse the key themes that are likely to emerge ...

Treasury released a paper seeking feedback on a framework for Comprehensive Income Products for Retirement. It will permit trustees to offer members on a 'soft default' basis 'mass-customised, composite retirement income products' and, to encourage trustees ...

Earlier today Treasury released exposure draft regulations for Innovative Superannuation Income Streams They set out income stream standards that will be relevant for products such as deferred annuities and group self-annuitised products The Allens Superannuation team reports ...

Treasurer Scott Morrison this week announced that he has tasked the Productivity Commission to review the state of competition in Australias financial system The Budget has also included other measures focused on competition in the financial sector including funding to establish a dedicated ACCC ...

Perhaps the biggest issue dealt with in the superannuation hearings is how various forms of conflicts create perverse incentives for trustees to not comply with their duties. ...