News in Brief

0
  • Advice Firms Loses Bid to Avoid Licence Suspension;
  • Advice Leads to Less Financial Regret

Advice Firms Loses Bid to Avoid Licence Suspension

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has rejected a bid by MASU Financial Management Pty Ltd to prevent a suspension of its Australian financial services licence (AFSL) for eight weeks after ASIC found it had not complied with its obligations as a licensee.

The AAT made the decision on 31 January after MASU appealed a decision by ASIC on 26 April 2016 to suspend the advisory group’s AFSL.

ASIC’s original decision came after a review in December 2015 found a ‘one size fits all’ approach to Statements of Advice as well as ‘boiler plated’ advice and disclosures in advice related to complex products.

The AAT found that MASU was not compliant in the past and had not yet reached the point where it can be said to be compliant and it was likely further contraventions will occur until further improvements were made.

Following the appeal, MASU’s AFSL will now be suspended from 6 February 2017 to 25 March 2017 after the initial suspension in mid-2016 was delayed by the appeal.

 

Advice Leads to Less Financial Regret

Consumers who have received financial advice have less regrets about their financial decisions than those who took the advice of friends or family, according to research conducted by Mortgage Choice.

The home loan group conducted a field study in which it found that while around 70% of people regret a financial decision, one third said they had made that decision based on information gathered from friends, family members or strangers.

By comparison, less than 5% of people said they regretted a decision made in connection with advice received from a financial adviser.

Mortgage Choice Chief Executive, John Flavell said consumers who did due diligence and spoke with a professional were unlikely to go wrong financially as they were less swayed by what they hear or how conflicting information may be presented.