The Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response) Bill 2020 was passed by Parliament on 10 December 2020. It covers a range of reforms, in line with the revised regulatory timetable and includes claims handling and settling services for insurance products regulated by ASIC (Claims as a Financial Service). ASIC also issued a draft information... Read more continue reading
14
Dec
2020
An important reminder that discretionary trusts that have already sold all residential properties before the deadline of 31 December 2020 could still be assessed for foreign surcharge purposes under the new NSW laws even if the trusts have already been wound up. The retrospective effect of The State Revenue Legislation Further Amendment Act 2020 (NSW) means the surcharge... Read more continue reading
14
Dec
2020
Joint media release with Senator the Hon Jane Hume, Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Technology: The Morrison Government is implementing further reforms to strengthen the financial advice sector and provide consumers with better access to affordable and high quality financial advice. Today, legislation was introduced into the Parliament that addresses four recommendations... Read more continue reading
10
Dec
2020
ASIC has published Information Sheet 252: Managing conduct risk during LIBOR transition (INFO 252) on practical guidance that Australian entities can adopt to manage conduct risk during the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) transition. LIBOR is expected to cease after the end of 2021. Although entities in Australia have made substantial changes to date, additional effort... Read more continue reading
01
Dec
2020
Product Disclosure Statements (PDSs) are subject to a range of regulatory obligations but they can also support commercial objectives (for example, a business that prides itself on speaking in plain English might want to present easy-to-read documents). Below is a short refresher on content vs convenience. Living documents PDSs are not ‘set and forget’ documents.... Read more continue reading
26
Nov
2020
Aberdeen Standard Investments Australia Managing Director Brett Jollie welcomed the Retirement Income Review findings and its acknowledgement that insufficient attention had been given to retirement income. “As Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) has said consistently, Australia has a gaping retirement income system gap. Up until now the solutions have been piecemeal. And it is fair to say... Read more continue reading
24
Nov
2020
ASIC has issued Consultation Paper 332 Promoting access to affordable advice for consumers (CP 332). CP 332 seeks input from industry participants and relevant stakeholders to help ASIC understand: the issues and impediments relating to the supply of good quality affordable personal advice; and the practical steps that can be taken by ASIC and industry to improve... Read more continue reading
19
Nov
2020
New Internal Dispute Resolution requirements (RG 271) – what are the key take outs and considerations for insurers? ASIC released its new Regulatory Guide (RG 271) on complaints handling and dispute resolution standards and requirements, on 30 June 2020. The new RG 271 guide will replace the existing RG 165 guidance and will take effect... Read more continue reading
02
Oct
2020
Last year innovative and landmark reforms were introduced that gave companies limited by guarantee the ability to raise capital by issuing mutual capital instruments ( MCIs) without risking their status as a mutual. Now 12 months on, we share our top 3 tips for any mutual looking to streamline the process. Tip 1: Make sure your... Read more continue reading
07
Sep
2020
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