Advisers avoid ASIC enforcement spotlight
Financial planners may have found themselves front and centre at the Royal Commission but they were notably largely absent from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission’s (ASIC’s) latest Enforcement Update covering the period between July and December, last year.
The update, published by ASIC yesterday, pointed to plenty of issues around credit providers and provided a case study related to Prime Trust, but financial planners remained unmentioned.
The report noted that in the six months between 1 July 2018 and 31 December 2018, ASIC resolved 56 financial services-related outcomes and that as at 1 January 2019, ASIC had 15 criminal and 66 civil financial services-related matters underway that had not achieved a final result.
The report said that in 2019 ASIC would be looking closely at misconduct involving AFS licensees – an area of particular interest to the Royal Commission”.
“Where appropriate, ASIC will refer briefs of evidence of criminal breaches to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) or commence civil penalties or other civil action in the courts,” it said.
“We are also focusing on responsible lending breaches, as well as the sale of inappropriate products to consumers, which can potentially cause them harm.”
Recommended for you
The Governance Institute has said ASIC’s governance arrangements are no longer “fit for purpose” in a time when financial markets are quickly innovating and cyber crime becomes a threat.
Compliance professionals working in financial services are facing burnout risk as higher workloads, coupled with the ever-changing regulation, place notable strain on staff.
The Senate economics legislation committee has recommended Schedule 1 of the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes legislation be passed as it is a “faithful implementation” of the recommendations.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has handed down his third budget, outlining the government’s macroeconomic forecasts and changes to superannuation.
