Regulators and compliance

The recommendations seek to improve the effectiveness of the regulators in deterring misconduct and ensuring that there are just and appropriate consequences for misconduct. Some recommendations seek to increase the ways in which the regulators can enforce the law by Read More …

Professional discipline of financial advisers

Recommendation 2.7 – Reference checking and information sharing All AFSL holders should be required, as a condition of their licence, to give effect to reference checking and information–sharing protocols for financial advisers, to the same effect as now provided by Read More …

Conclusion

The financial advice industry is part way through transformation from an industry dedicated to the sale of financial products to a profession concerned with the provision of financial advice. The interests of Australians who seek financial advice require that that Read More …

4.2 A new approach to discipline

As I said at the start of this section of the chapter, a coherent system of professional discipline must be established for financial advisers. The system should have the following key features. First, each financial adviser should be individually registered. Read More …

4.1 Existing arrangements

4.1.1 AFSL holders As mentioned earlier in this chapter, a key principle in CLERP 6 was to regulate intermediaries (including financial advisers) at firm level rather than at the individual level, in part to allow ASIC to target its resources Read More …

Introduction

The third matter that emerged in connection with the provision of financial advice related to the disciplinary system for financial advisers. That system now consists of a number of bodies, each directed at regulating different, though related, norms of behaviour, Read More …

3.3 Reducing or eliminating the conflict

As I said in the Interim Report,[1] and have repeated above, consideration of conflicts between duty and interest begins from two simple observations: So long as advisers stand to benefit financially from clients acting on the advice that is given, Read More …

1.7 Further Observations

The proposed changes to lift the professional, education and ethical standards of financial advisers represent a further important step towards making financial advice a profession. Once these changes have taken effect, it may be possible to ask again whether the Read More …

Introduction

Over the last decade, many Australians have sought financial advice. Over the same period, the financial advice industry has grown significantly. As at 1 April 2018, there were 25,386 financial advisers in Australia, an increase of around 41% compared with Read More …

4.3 Regulators and compliance

The recommendations seek to improve the effectiveness of the regulators in deterring misconduct and ensuring that there are just and appropriate consequences for misconduct. Some recommendations seek to increase the ways in which the regulators can enforce the law by Read More …