Australia & NZ

Financial compensation totalling A$730,000 was offered to 215 clients who were harmed by poor advice, while another 21 clients received non-financial remediation.

The bill will provide amnesty to employers who have underpaid superannuation up to 27 years ago, if they disclose their failures within two years and repay the full amount.

The ACCC’s Rod Sims said the lack of competition is not surprising in a market dominated by four players, where no other players have managed to make serious inroads to displace them.

RBNZ governor Adrian Orr says the sector has failed to demonstrate the necessary urgency and prioritisation to provide effective governance and monitoring of conduct risk.

The syndicate is said to have used fraudulently-obtained identities to steal millions of dollars from the superannuation and share trading accounts of innocent victims.

The solution is said to be a potential game-changer for buy-side participants who need to place large orders benchmarked to closing prices.

The Association of Financial Advisers says thousands of clients will be worse off without grandfathered commissions, and that financial advisers need more time to adjust.

The committee will inquire into the opportunities of fintech and regtech, and benchmark Australia’s environment for innovation against comparable global regimes.

The paper summarises the responses from the April consultation and puts forward potential implementation options for consideration.

ASIC is using its product intervention power to end a practice that has to date enabled payday lenders to charge fees up to 1000% of the loan amount.