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From InvestorDaily. The industry super lobby has accused the major banks of attempting to evade the FOFA regulation within their superannuation products. Industry Super Australia (ISA) recently posted a submission to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into the efficiency and competitiveness of Australia’s superannuation system. ISA called for a crackdown on big banks and other for-profit … Continue reading “ISA accuses banks of dodging FOFA”
For the first time we get a read on how the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms will be interpreted by the courts. ASIC says the Federal Court has found that Melbourne-based financial advice firm NSG Services Pty Ltd (formerly National Sterling Group Pty Ltd) (NSG) breached the best interests obligations of the Corporations Act … Continue reading “Federal Court declares Melbourne licensee breached FOFA laws”
ASIC says it has commenced proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia against Wealth and Risk Management Pty Ltd (WRM), and related companies Yes FP Pty Ltd (Yes FP) and Jeca Pty Ltd (trading as Yes FS) (Yes FS), in relation to various alleged breaches of the Corporations Act 2001 and the Australian Securities and … Continue reading “ASIC acts against alleged contraventions of FoFA obligations”
The Australian Bankers’ Association has today strongly rejected the claim by Industry Super Australia that banks ‘sidestep’ Future of Financial Advice protections when advising customers on superannuation. They were reacting to strong claims made today by ISA: The big four banks have been luring people away from industry super funds and into poorer performing super … Continue reading “ABA Rejects View That Bank Wealth Advisors Sidestep FOFA”
ASIC has said it has commenced proceedings against Melbourne-based NSG Services Pty Ltd (formerly National Sterling Group Pty Ltd) (NSG) for breaches of the ‘best interests duty’ introduced under the ‘Future of Financial Advice’ (FOFA) reforms. This is the first civil penalty action ASIC has taken against a licensee alleging breaches of the best interests … Continue reading “ASIC takes first action against licensee for alleged breaches of FOFA ‘best interests duty’”
The government’s changes to FoFA are now under threat, following a move which saw four crossbench senators join with the Labor and the Greens to overturn the changes to the financial advice laws. This reverses some of the changes which as we discussed before were aligned with the major banks, and saw consumer protection eroded. … Continue reading “FOFA Disallowed In Senate”
Last night in the Senate, the plans to disallow significant portions of the Government’s Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms were blocked by a majority of two votes. The amendments were saved with support from the Palmer United Party, Motoring Enthusiast Party, Family First and Liberal Democratic Party cross-benchers. So the latest iterations of the … Continue reading “FOFA Survives”
I wrote a piece, published today for the ABC News – The Drum, arguing that far from reducing the cost of financial advice and improving access, the PUP-approved FOFA changes will favour the big banks and allow planners to provide poor advice. It was based on my earlier and more details post published here, but … Continue reading “The incredible morphing FOFA beast”
Last week, the Future of Financial Advice regulations were tabled in Parliament, following the recently published Senate review. As currently incarnated they have the potential to drive a coach and horses through the original intentions of the FOFA reforms. Today we explore why this is so, and highlight some of the consequences for both the managed … Continue reading “Why FOFA Matters So Much”