AFCA

Financial planning

Should wholesale advice clients be treated differently under PI?

Wholesale clients should have the financial capability and knowledge necessary to rely on professional indemnity insurance rather than accessing the proposed new compensa...

Financial planning

AFCA forced to change its approach to ARs

A loss in the NSW Supreme Court and action by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has seen the Australian Financial Complaints Authority forced to change...

Policy & Regulation

Judge admonishes AFCA for prompting filing of complaints

A NSW Supreme Court Judge has admonished the Australian Financial Complaints Authority for stepping beyond what is appropriate by “joining the fray” to prompt the filing ...

Superannuation

AFCA entering uncharted territory on super complaints

Up to 20 complaints left unfinished by the final closure of the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal will need to be handled by the Australian Financial Complaints Authorit...

Financial planning

AFCA IDR deadline extension approaching

There are just a few days left for firms to provide responses to financial difficulty complaints for internal dispute resolution as the extension implemented by the Austr...

Financial planning

Licensees cautious amid continuing FASEA code uncertainty

Financial planning licensees are urging a highly cautious approach on their planners because of the continuing uncertainty around the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethi...

Superannuation

How some people paid nearly $300 for free super early release

At least two companies were warned by the regulator to stop charging fees ranging from $199 to $299 for facilitating superannuation early release when the process is mean...

Superannuation

AFCA blames Govt policy, not funds on insurance inside super increases

The Government’s changes to insurance inside superannuation have been responsible for driving premium increases, not the superannuation funds themselves, according to the...

Policy & Regulation

ASIC urges continuing complaints despite AFCA pause

The Australia Financial Complaints Authority may have ‘paused’ processing complaints against insolvent financial firms, but the Australian Securities and Investments Comm...

Financial planning

Planners take up 1.6% of AFCA complaints

There were 1,332 complaints out of 84,500 against planners in the last financial year which the Australian Financial Complaints Authority says is “fantastic”....

Financial planning

AFCA supports ASIC product invention on continuing credit contracts

AFCA has welcomed ASIC’s assessment that continuing credit contracts cause consumer detriment and that the regulator’s product intervention powers should be utilised....

Financial planning

Single regulator advocated for financial planning

The Federal Government should use the creation of a single disciplinary body to create a single regulator and thereby reduce complexity and costs....

Financial planning

Paperwork and communications the key to winning in front of AFCA

A senior Australian Financial Complaints Authority ombudsman has acknowledged that financial advisers are doing it tough in a tricky environment and that the authority wi...

Features

InFocus: Individual adviser registration – a step forward on an evolutionary road

The chair of licensee Synchron, Michael Harrison sees merit and advantages in a move towards individual adviser registration....

Financial planning

Are there code of ethics risks for advisers making retirement income recommendations?

Questions are being asked about whether advisers are facing greater risks of being perceived to breach the code of ethics because of the complexities inherent in advising...