Clik here to view.
Save our consumer protections!
We need to stop the winding back of protections for consumers seeking financial advice. The federal government is trying to axe important consumer protections, called the Future of Financial Advice...
View ArticleClik here to view.
FoFA legislative changes pass in the House of Reps
The House of Representatives has voted in favour of the government's amendments to the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) legislation. The members of Parliament voted following a long debate where the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Big banks face up to structural flaw
It was only a matter of time before the big banks would be forced to address the structural flaw that has driven the financial planning scandal: vertical integration. In their latest submissions to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
People are suffering from years of poor advice
RECENT weeks have seen the Murray inquiry into the financial services sector in Australia unearth some ugly truths, as has the Senate inquiry into the CBA. These truths range beyond just the dreadful...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Alan Jones talks to Federal Finance Minister about Cracking Down on the...
Alan talks to the federal Finance minister about cracking down on the financial planning industry Alan Jones - Mathias Cormann - audio player
View ArticleClik here to view.
Funding for the government's adviser register unclear
How the public register of financial advisers will be funded remains unclear, with the government saying that the money will come via a $5 hike in the annual lodgement fee for Australian Financial...
View ArticleClik here to view.
New register of financial advisers welcome
The Australian Bankers’ Association (ABA) today welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Finance and Acting Assistant Treasurer, Mathias Cormann, of an industry-wide public register of financial...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Financial planners furious over FOFA laws rollback
Financial planners will have to start contacting hundreds of thousands of customers and ask them if they want to remain clients from mid next year if the Senate votes to a return to Labor's financial...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ASIC A Speech by Greg Medcraft Parliamentary Joint Committee: Opening statement
ASIC A Speech by Greg Medcraft Parliamentary Joint Committee: Opening Statement ASIC A Speech by Greg Medcraft Parliamentary Joint Committee: Opening Statement PDF
View ArticleClik here to view.
FOFA or not, the future of advice is brighter
HANDS up if you know what FOFA stands for. Okay, well, I can’t see any hands. That’s probably because most people don’t know or don’t care what FOFA is, and because newspapers don’t have eyeballs to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Regional Banks welcome FSI Report and call for action on implementation
Four of Australia's leading Regional Banks have today welcomed the Final Report of the Financial System Inquiry, which acknowledges the need to level the playing field in banking. The regional banks...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Watchdogs would get to bite sooner
Corporate regulators would be able to ban financial advisers earlier and stop dodgy products under a "paradigm shift" outlined by the Financial System Inquiry. Saying past industry-led standards had...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Standards and commissions for financial advice ripe for change
The wealth industry needs to overhaul commission structures for financial planners and redefine misleading advice terms to protect consumers. Those were two of several recommendations outlined in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Maurice Blackburn calls for 'last resort' scheme
The government should consider introducing a 'last resort' compensation scheme in financial services to overcome FOS’s toothlessness, plaintiff law firm Maurice Blackburn has argued. In a submission to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Suncorp firm under ASIC scrutiny over 'deficiencies' in insurance advice
The corporate watchdog has slapped new licence conditions on Suncorp's life insurance advisory firm Guardian Advice, after it recruited advisers from failed firms. In a revelation that has sparked...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Politicians are called to "Enforce the Law" on "Banks and Bankers"
UPDATE: Early in 2015 we published this article, outlining the corruption in the banking sector and how the banks have been able to get away with the taking of peoples businesses, lively hoods,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ex-ANZ financial adviser Melinda Scott jailed until 2018 for 22-year, $6m fraud
For 22 years Sydney financial adviser Melinda Scott siphoned millions of dollars out of her clients' superannuation funds – spending the money on property, family holidays and private school fees. On...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Finanical advisers register to operate on honesty system
A national register of financial advisers, which the government pitched as a key weapon in its fight to boost consumer protection, will operate on an honesty system with zero oversight. The Australian...
View ArticleClik here to view.
CBA issues initial client assessments
The first assessments of the CBA’s Open Advice Review (OAR) are now in the hands of affected clients, but the process is expected to drag out well into late 2016, says the bank’s chief executive Ian...
View ArticleClik here to view.
System damned by planner's decades of fraud
It seems incredible that a financial adviser could continue to rip off clients for two decades. Such was the case with Sydney financial planner Melinda Scott, who was sentenced to a minimum three years...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Josh Frydenberg rebuffs calls for financial planning commission
The government is resisting renewed calls for a royal commission into financial advice after revelations of misconduct at National Australia Bank, saying it is already responding to problems in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
National Australia Bank will need more than remorse to satisfy Senate grilling
National Australia Bank executives will need to pull a rabbit out of a hat when they front a Senate estimates hearing on Friday to explain serious misconduct in its financial planning division. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why the big banks need to compensate the little people
Australia's banks are not meeting their social and moral obligation to victims of financial misconduct. Nightmares should not last for 12 years. When Kevin made the fateful mistake of trusting the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Government sends clear message to financial planners: lift your game or...
The federal government has endorsed proposals to raise the professional, ethical and education standards of financial planners, and will require planners to be degree-qualified, pass an exam, undertake...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ASIC clarification splits advice sector
Financial advice groups affected by ASIC’s clarification of section 923A of the Corporations Act have diverged into two camps on how to respond to the development. Last week, ASIC unveiled its position...
View Article