Australia & NZ

Colonial First State is said to have used CBA's branches and digital channels to sell superannuation products to more than 390,000 bank customers under a revenue-sharing arrangement.

CLSA Premium NZ failed to adequately conduct customer due diligence, terminate certain business relationships, report suspicious transactions, and maintain records.

The benefit of securities class actions may disproportionately benefit litigation funders rather than plaintiffs in those proceedings, with the costs falling on the shareholders, ASX says.

Larger than required remediation payments could be fast-tracked for all clients by forgoing the years of work needed to locate advice files and calculate individual payments.

The ATO is using income tax returns and other data to ascertain whether applicants are in fact eligible. Those making false statements to meet the eligibility criteria will face penalties.

Advisers would have had until the end of this year to complete the new Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority exam. A newly-passed bill allows an extra year to do so.

The product intervention power allows ASIC to respond to harms in the financial sector, but it must consult with affected persons before each use of the power.

Separately, APRA has delegated enforcement powers to ASIC, allowing it to seek fines or banning orders if Westpac is found to have breached banking laws.

An ACCC review last year found that a lack of pricing transparency forced consumers to rely on the more expensive big four banks for FX conversion and international money transfers.

In a consultation paper, the FMA specifies three distinct classes of financial advice provider licences, to allow applicants to apply for the licence that best suits their circumstances and business structures.