Monthly Archives: September 2018
Westpac Flags $235 Million For Advice Remediation
The Westpac Bank will spend around $235 million in remediation to clients impacted by fees-for-no-services or inadequate financial advice provided by advisers within the bank’s licensees.
In a statement released to the ASX, the Bank...
Advisers Must Belong to Professional Body
All financial advisers will be required to be members of a code monitoring body and subject to an industry wide Code of Ethics by the start of 2020, under new guidelines released by ASIC.
The...
Royal Commission Condemns Greed and Inaction Behind Industry Misconduct
The Banking Royal Commission has blamed greed by financial services providers and inaction by regulators for the range of issues it has uncovered during the first four rounds of hearings.
The Commission released its interim...
Adviser Study Quantifies Value of Client Centric Practices
Financial advisers who engaged in ‘know your client’ behaviours and practices had greater rates in the growth of clients and referrals to new clients, according to a three-nation survey of advisers.
The “Know Your Client”...
Royal Commission Questions Ongoing Use of Life Insurance Commissions
The Banking Royal Commission has questioned why life insurance commissions should remain as a carve-out to the conflicted remuneration provisions of the Corporations Act and why they should not continue to be reduced to...
Commission Concerns Overlook LIF and Best Interest Duty
The AFA has written to members informing them that large figures quoted at the Banking Royal Commission related to life insurance commissions overlooked legal obligations for advisers and equate to only $65,000 a year...
Insurers Report Code Breaches But No Sanctions
The body tasked with enforcing the FSC’s Life Insurance Code of Practice (LICP) made no sanctions against any life insurer in its first year, despite being aware of 25 breaches of the Code and...
Medical Definitions Influence Advisers’ Choice of Insurer
The early results of our latest poll suggests advisers are more likely to consider recommending products from an insurer which updates its medical definitions on a more frequent basis.
At the time of going to press,...
Don Connelly to Speak at MDRT, AFA Events
Renowned speaker, motivator and mentor to financial advisers, Don Connelly, will be sharing the wealth of his wisdom at a series of events across Australia in October.
Connelly, whose resume is unmatched, will be presenting...
FSC Head Unclear on Breakdown of Adviser Commissions
The head of the Financial Services Council has struggled to clearly articulate the relationship between financial advisers and life insurers as well as the role of commissions in the purchase of life insurance products.
Appearing...