Compliance comes to the fore

Attendees at this year's Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) conference will find it hard to avoid coming face-to-face with the thorny issue of compliance.

Attendees at this year's Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) conference will find it hard to avoid coming face-to-face with the thorny issue of compliance.

The two day conference which kicks off in Melbourne tomorrow is streamed into four strands, one of which is devoted entirely to compliance.

That's a first, according to conference organiser and IFSA deputy chairman, Richard Gilbert, who says IFSA's formation three years ago brought together the interests of three different but related areas of the financial services industry for the first time.

These interests, he says, have now started to cross over as the industry undergoes cross-pollination. He says compliance has become central to the industry’s agenda.

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"This need has also been sharpened by changes under the Managed Investment Act (MIA) and the fact that product and advice are now stretching across retail and wholesale," Gilbert says.

"The point of having four streams at the conference is to create a network for all attendees which is not available at other conferences. While the program looks formal, the sessions are aimed at help-ing people look outside their normal focus to seek better products and services."

Gilbert expects about 600 delegates from all areas of the industry to attend the conference.