An Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) Report, "Sale of Direct Life Insurance" (Report), has exposed systemic issues within the life insurance industry. The findings include a number of dramatic case studies...more
Misaligned advisor interests. Consumer disengagement. Low financial literacy in the face of complex documents. These themes echo throughout the revised Treasury Laws Amendment (Design and Distribution Obligations and Product...more
There are good reasons to suspect that we may soon see increased enforcement action from the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regulator, Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre...more
Late last year the Australian Government released a paper outlining a proposal to implement a range of design and distribution obligations on the issuers and distributors of financial products to retail clients. The proposed...more
Concerns have been raised by the Australian Government in recent times in relation to the effect of current remuneration structures in the mortgage broking market on the quality of consumer outcomes.
During 2016, the...more
ASIC's amended fee and cost disclosure requirements for managed investment schemes and superannuation funds are due to commence tomorrow. However, ASIC has granted an extension until 1 September 2017....more
The Australian government has released draft regulations implementing a single sided exemption from the trade reporting regime for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. Consultation on the regulations closed in late June and...more
7/28/2015
/ ASIC ,
Compliance ,
Derivatives ,
DTCC ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign ,
Foreign Entities ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Hedge Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Over The Counter Derivatives (OTC) ,
Safe Harbors ,
Superannuation
In March this year, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), issued Report 429 Cyber resilience: Health check (REP 429). The report aims to highlight the importance of cyber resilience for entities...more
The Attorney- General's Department has announced that the exemption for commercial credit providers (CCPs) from the external dispute resolution (EDR) membership obligation should continue indefinitely. As advised in our Legal...more
Commercial credit providers (CCPs) may be required, by the current Australian privacy laws, to join an external dispute resolution (EDR) scheme (EDR scheme) by 12 March 2015 if they wish to continue participating in credit...more
On 8 August 2014, the Australian Investments and Securities Commission (ASIC) issued a media release – 14-191MR Statement on wholesale and retail investors and SMSFs (14-191MR), in which ASIC withdrew its previous view on the...more
At the end of May 2014, a bill was introduced to the Australian Federal Parliament to give effect to the United States' Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the intergovernmental agreement which was executed by...more
In light of today's announcements from Mathias Cormann, Australia's Minister for Finance, the future of FoFA is becoming clearer.
The Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) legislation has been surrounded by uncertainty...more
With the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) set to launch its mFund settlement service in the first half of 2014, investment platform providers and financial advisers need to spend some time coming to grips with the...more
In October 2013, the Australian Investment and Securities Commission (ASIC) announced new reporting and disclosure obligations for hedge funds and funds of hedge funds registered in Australia.
By 1 February 2014, fund...more
In line with their pre-election commitments, on Friday 20 December, the Australian Government announced plans to reform the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) legislation. Many of the changes go beyond what had previously been...more
Superannuation fund trustees will be seeking increased input and cooperation from their investment managers in order to comply with new regulatory requirements while hedge funds will need to consider their status under the...more
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has released further draft Australian Privacy Principles (APP) Guidelines (draft Guidelines) for public consultation. The draft Guidelines outline how the OAIC will...more
What can the Financial Services Sector Expect from the New Federal Government?
"Son of Wallis" Inquiry -
The incoming Coalition government has committed to conducting a comprehensive "root and branch" inquiry...more
There is no doubt that the Future of Financial Advice reforms (FOFA) will significantly transform the advice landscape, and there is debate around which sectors of the advice industry will be the winners, and how long the...more
Investment governance expectations on superannuation trustees have risen markedly since the introduction of the StongerSuper reforms....more
The growth in assets in Self Managed Super Funds (SMSFs) continues unabated with the SMSF sector now comprising nearly AUD500 billion in assets from just under 500,000 funds; each fund containing an average of around AUD1...more
The Privacy Amendment (Privacy Alerts) Bill 2013 was introduced into Parliament on 29 May 2013. Having been recommended by the Senate Committee report tabled on 24 June, it appears that Parliament intends to pass the Bill...more
The Australian Government has been rolling out a series of significant regulatory reforms of the superannuation industry, many of which will commence in 2013. These reforms are fundamentally designed to enhance the prudential...more
The Australian Government is looking to encourage foreign investment into Australia through the introduction of a new visa pathway for individuals who make substantial investments in Australia. The "Significant Investor Visa"...more